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THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

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WILLIAM    P.    V-'REDEN 


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Famous  Cathedrals 


FAMOUS  MARVELS 

AND  MASTERPIECES 

OF  THE  WORLD 

As  Seen  and  Described  by  Great  Writers 

Collected  and  Edited  by 

ESTHER  SINGLETON 


Famous  Paintings 

Great  Pictures 

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Turrets,  Towers  and  Temples 

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Famous  Cathedrals 

Fourteen  volumes  in  all.    Profusely  illustrated. 
Each  sold  separately. 

You  can  get  any  of  the  series  where  you  bought 
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ROUEN  CATHEDRAl, 


Famous    Cathedrals 

As  Seen  and  Described 
By   Great   Writers 


COLLECTED  AND  EDITED  BY 
ESTHER  SINGLETON 


Wtt&  Numerous  Illustrations 


NEW  YORK 
DODD,  MEAD  &  COMPANY 


Copyright,  1909,  by 
DoDD,  Mead  &  Company 


Published,  October,  igog 


4830 


Preface 

NOTHING  perhaps  gives  the  American  tourist  greater 
pleasure  during  his  European  travels  than  his  visits 
to  the  great  cathedrals.  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten  soon  after 
his  arrival  in  any  city  or  town  his  footsteps  lead  him  directly 
to  the  Cathedral.  The  great  fabric,  planned  and  built  by 
so  many  minds  and  hands,  and  representing  so  many  periods 
of  art  and  architecture,  astounds,  delights  and  entrances  him 
and  he  finds  himself  wandering  again  and  again  in  its  vi- 
cinity to  gaze  on  its  sculptured  portals  and  facade  when 
the  gray  stone  glows  with  the  roseate  tints  of  morning  or 
evening,  or  when  it  emerges  from  the  mist  like  a  palace  of 
dreams,  or  towers  in  the  moonlight  with  fantastic  effect. 
He  likes  also  to  study  the  conglomeration  of  buildings  at 
different  angles,  now  from  the  great  western  entrance,  now 
from  the  apse,  now  from  the  chapter-house  and  cloisters,  with 
varied  views  of  towers,  windows  and  flying  buttresses. 

If  the  great  fabric  charms  him  from  the  exterior,  what 
are  his  emotions  when  he  discovers  the  wealth  of  the  inte- 
rior with  its  forests  of  columns,  springing  arches,  magnificent 
carvings  of  stone  and  wood,  and  its  glowing  pictures  of  glass 
set  in  frames  of  exquisite  tracery.  Very  aptly  has  Mr. 
Fergusson  said  : 

"  Not  only  is  there  built  into  a  Mediaeval  cathedral  the 
accumulated  thought  of  all  the  men  who  had  occupied  them- 
selves with  building  during  the  preceding  centuries,  but  you 


VI  PREFACE 


have  the  dream  and  aspiration  of  the  bishop,  abbot,  or 
clergy  for  whom  it  was  designed  j  the  master  mason's 
skilled  construction  ;  the  work  of  the  carver,  the  painter, 
the  glazier,  the  host  of  men  who,  each  in  his  own  craft, 
knew  all  that  had  been  done  before  them,  and  had  spent 
their  lives  in  struggling  to  surpass  the  works  of  their  fore- 
fathers. It  is  more  than  this  :  there  is  not  one  shaft,  one 
moulding,  one  carving,  not  one  chisel-mark  in  such  a  build- 
ing, that  was  not  designed  specially  for  the  place  where  it 
is  found,  and  which  was  not  the  best  that  the  experience 
of  the  age  could  invent  for  the  purposes  to  which  it  is  ap- 
plied ;  nothing  was  borrowed  ;  and  nothing  that  was  de- 
signed for  one  purpose  was  used  for  another.  A  thought  or 
a  motive  peeps  out  through  every  joint;  you  may  wander 
in  such  a  building  for  weeks  or  for  months  together,  and 
never  know  it  all." 

It  is  manifestly  impossible  within  the  covers  of  a  book  of 
this  size  to  include  all  the  cathedrals  familiar  to  and  loved 
by  the  traveller ;  but  I  have  endeavoured  to  bring  before 
the  reader  a  varied  list,  at  the  same  time  not  omitting  those 
that  all  the  world  agrees  are  the  most  celebrated.  I  have 
also  tried  to  vary  the  text  as  much  as  possible,  making  some 
selections  that  are  architectural;  some  that  are  descriptive; 
some  that  are  historical ;  and  adding  a  few  impressionist 
pictures,  like  those  of  Bourges  and  St,  Isaac's. 

For  the  information  of  the  layman,  Mr.  Francis  Bond 
has  described  the  divisions  of  a  cathedral  as  follows  : 

"  As  regards  the  nomenclature  of  the  parts  of  a  cathedral 
it  may  be  useful  to  mention  that  the  high  altar  is  to  the 
east ;  and  that  facing  the  east,  the  visitor  has  the  south 
transept  and  south  aisles  on  his  right,  and  the  north  transept 
and  north  aisles  on  his  left  hand.     Standing  at  the  altar  or 


PREFACE  VII 

the  choir-screen,  and  looking  down  the  nave  to  the  great 
doors,  he  has  the  north  transept  and  north  aisle  of  the  nave 
on  his  right,  and  the  south  transept  and  south  aisle  of  the 
nave  on  his  left. 

"  The  western  limb  of  the  cathedral  is  called  the  nave. 
The  term  '  choir  '  is  sometimes  loosely  applied  to  the  whole 
of  the  eastern  limb.  Strictly  it  applies  just  to  that  part  of 
the  church  where  the  stalls  are ;  and  that  part,  as  in  St.  Al- 
ban's  and  Norwich,  need  not  necessarily  be  in  the  eastern 
limb  at  all,  but  in  the  crossing  and  in  the  easternmost  bays 
of  the  nave. 

"  In  a  cathedral  with  a  fully  developed  plan,  e.  g.,  St. 
Alban's,  or  Winchester — the  following  ritualistic  divisions 
will  be  met  with  in  passing  from  west  to  east : — (i)  The 
nave  ;  (2)  the  choir  j  (3)  the  sanctuary  j  (4)  the  retro-choir, 
containing  (a)  processional  aisle,  (^b)  Saint's  Chapel,  (c)  ante- 
chapel  or  vestibule  to  the  Lady's  Chapel  j  (5)  Lady's 
Chapel.  Sometimes  these  ritualistic  divisions  correspond 
with  the  architectural  divisions  of  the  church  j  sometimes 
they  do  not :  e.  g.,  the  ritualistic  divisions  of  the  eastern 
limbs  of  York  and  Lincoln  were  not  shown  in  the  structure, 
but  merely  marked  off  by  screens,  most  of  which  have  been 
destroyed." 

In  my  endeavour  to  give  as  comprehensive  a  view  as 
possible  and  at  the  same  time  to  include  the  special  features 
of  each  cathedral,  I  have  sometimes  been  forced  to  cut  j 
but  otherwise  no  liberties  have  been  taken  with  the  text. 

E.  S. 

New  Tork^  September^  igog. 


Contents 


Rouen  Cathedral 

St.  Mark's,  Venice 

Peterborough  Cathedral 

•Amiens  Cathedral 
^  Oxford  Cathedral 

Bourges  Cathedral 

St.  Peter's  Rome  . 

Pamplona  Cathedral 

Ely  Cathedral 

Strassburg  Cathedral 

Sens  Cathedral     . 
^Durham  Cathedral 
,  Aix-la-Chapelle  Cathedral 
^The  Duomo,  Florence 
V  Notre  Dame,  Paris 
'-York  Minster 

Burgos  Cathedral 

Chalons-sur-Marne 
^Winchester  Cathedral 

Tours  Cathedral 

St.  Bavon,  Ghent 
""Bayeux  Cathedral 

St.  Stephen's,  Vienna 

Evreux  Cathedral 

Rochester  Cathedral 

Milan  Cathedral 

Chichester  Cathedral 

Reims  Cathedral  . 


Benjamin  Winkles  . 
Theophile  Gautier  . 
W.  J.  Loftie 
Augustus  J.  C.  Hare 
Francis  Bond 
Arthur  Symonds 
Francis  Wey  . 
George  Edmund  Street 
W.  D.  Sweeting     . 
Dr.  Julius  Euting  . 
L.  Cloquet      ,         , 
Canon  Talbot 
Victor  Hugo  . 
E.  Grifi 
S.  Sophia  Beak 
Dean  Purey-Cust    . 
Edmondo  De  Amicis 
Jean  Jacques  Bourasse 
Dean  Kitchen 
Stanislas  Bellanger 
Frederic  G.  Stephens 
H.  H.  Bishop 
Julius  Meurer 
Benjamin  Winkles 
W.  J.  Loftie 
Joseph  Boldorini 
Francis  Bond 
Augustus  J.  C.  Hare 


I 

9 

22 

27 
36 

45 
50 
60 

^7 
76 

83 

87 
93' 
98 
104 
114 
123 
128 
132 
138 
142 
148 
153 
»57 
162 
168 

175 
184 


CONTENTS 


St.  Isaac's,  St.  Petersburg 
NoYON  Cathedral 
*5t.  Paul's,  London 
Cologne  Cathedral 
— Coutances  Cathedral 
Glasgow  Cathedral 
CoMO  Cathedral  . 
Vassili-Blagennoi,  Moscow 
Gloucester    Cathedral 
L^Chartres  Cathedral 
St.  Patrick's,  Dublin 
Soissons  Cathedral 
TouRNAY  Cathedral 
Le  Mans  Cathedral 
Canterbury  Cathedral 
Laon  Cathedral 
Gerona  Cathedral 
Beauvais  Cathedral 
Lichfield  Cathedral 
Poitiers  Cathedral 


Theophik  Gautier  . 

Eugene  Lefevre-Pontalis 

Dean  Milman 

Esther  Singleton 

Paul  Joanne 

John  Honeyman 

John   Addington   Symonds 

Theophile  Gautier 

Dean  Spence  . 

H.  J.  L.  L.  Masse 

Dean  Bernard 

L.  Cloquet 

Frederic  G.  Stephens 

Augustus  J.  C.  Hare 

Francis  Bond 

Esther  Singleton 

George  Edmund  Street 

Benjamin  Winkles  . 

W.  J.  Loftie 

Jean  Jacques  Bourasse 


191 
199 
204 
214 
219 
222 
226 
232 
236 
242 

254 
261 

264 

269 

274 
282 
287 
297 

305 
310 


Illustrations 


Rouen  Cathedral Frontispiece 

Facing  page 

St.  Mark's,  Venice lo 

Peterborough  Cathedral 22 

Amiens  Cathedral 28 

Oxford  Cathedral 36 

Bourges  Cathedral 46 

St.  Peter's,  Rome 50 

Ely  Cathedral 68 

Strassburg  Cathedral 76 

Sens  Cathedral 84 

Durham  Cathedral 88 

Aix-la-Chapelle  Cathedral 94 

The  Duomo,  Florence 98 

Notre  Dame,  Paris    . 104 

York  Minster 114 

Burgos  Cathedral 124 

Chalons-sur-Marne  Cathedral 128 

Winchester  Cathedral 132 

Tours  Cathedral 138 

St.  Bavon,  Ghent 142 

Bayeux  Cathedral ,        .148 

St.  Stephen's,  Vienna 154 

Evreux  Cathedral 158 

Rochester  Cathedral 162 

Milan  Cathedral 168 

Chichester  Cathedral 176 

Reims  Cathedral 184 

St.  Isaac's,  St.  Petersburg 192 

NoYON  Cathedral 200 

St.  Paul's,  London 204 

Cologne  Cathedral 214 


XII  ILLUSTRATIONS 

CouTANCES  Cathedral 220 

Glasgow  Cathedral 222 

Co.MO  Cathedral 226 

Vassili-Blagennoi,  Moscow 232 

Gloucester  Cathedral 236 

Chartres  Cathedral 242 

St.  Patrick's,  Dublin 254 

SoissoNS  Cathedral 262 

Tournay  Cathedral 264 

Le  Mans  Cathedral 270 

Canterbury  Cathedral 274 

Laon  Cathedral 282 

Lichfield  Cathedral 306 

Poitiers  Cathedral 310 


ROUEN  CATHEDRAL 

BENJAMIN  WINKLES 

ROUEN  CATHEDRAL  is  of  vast  dimensions,  of 
wonderful  magnificence:  and  (wiiich  constitutes  its 
peculiar  excellence)  of  the  very  best  proportions.  Other 
cathedrals  have  their  peculiar  excellencies,  but  they  have  at 
the  same  time  some  very  obvious  defect.  Rouen  Cathedral, 
having  no  such  defect,  may  be  considered,  as  a  whole,  su- 
perior to  any  other  in  France.  Beauvais,  for  instance,  has 
a  choir  and  Evreux  a  transept  and  central  tower  to  which 
there  is  nothing  comparable  in  the  corresponding  portions  of 
Rouen  Cathedral,  or  indeed  in  any  other  portions  of  it ;  but 
Beauvais  has  no  nave  and  Evreux  has  a  west  front  of  mod- 
ern Italian  architecture,  and  is,  moreover,  very  defective  in  re- 
gard to  its  proportions.  To  say  then  that  Rouen  Cathedral  is 
one  of  the  first  class  is  not  enough  ;  it  is  undoubtedly  among 
the  first  in  that  class,  if  it  does  not  stand  alone  as  altogether 
pre-eminent. 

Let  the  reader  suppose  himself  standing  immediately  op- 
posite the  great  centre  portal,  and  a  few  yards  from  it ;  what 
a  vast  and  splendid  display  of  Gothic  architecture  is  then 
before  him.  If  he  has  been  already  dazzled  by  the  south 
front  of  the  transept  of  Beauvais  Cathedral,  what  will  he  feel 
on  first  beholding  the  west  front  of  the  metropolitan  church  of 
Rouen,  which,  with  all  the  richness  of  the  former,  and  far 
greater  delicacy  of  detail,  has,  at  the  same  time,  nearly  four 
times  its  extent  ?     This  truly  majestic  facade  presents  a 

I 


2  ROUEN  CATHEDRAL 

breadth  of  170  feet;  the  plan  of  it  may  be  said  to  be  the 
usual  one,  although  with  several  peculiarities  attending  it. 
Thus,  for  instance,  there  are  three  portals,  the  centre  one 
rising  much  higher,  and  having  nearly  double  the  breadth 
of  the  lateral  ones,  which  is  usual ;  but  then,  in  this  in- 
stance, it  also  projects  far  beyond  the  others  in  the  form  of 
a  porch,  and  is  flanked  by  enormous  pyramidal  buttresses, 
exceedingly  rich,  which  from  their  size  and  form  deserve  to 
be  called  turrets,  with  spires  upon  them.  Again,  it  has  two 
towers,  which  is  usual,  but  their  position  is  very  unusual  j 
for  instead  of  immediately  flanking  the  west  end  of  the 
nave,  as  in  some  instances,  or  Its  side  aisles,  as  in  others, 
they  are  built  beyond  even  these  last,  with  one  side  of  each 
of  them  against  the  outer  walls  of  the  nave  chapels  on  each 
side  of  the  Cathedral,  which  gives  to  this  front  its  noble  and 
unusual  breadth.  The  space  thus  formed  between  these 
towers  and  the  west  end  of  the  nave,  on  either  side  of  it,  is 
filled  up  with  arcades  which  are  adorned  with  tracery  and 
surmounted  by  open  canopies,  or  pierced  gables,  which  are 
crocketed  and  terminated  by  small  statues.  The  slender 
columns  which  support  this  arcade  are  also  terminated  by 
crocketed  pinnacles ;  and  it  is  further  adorned  with  tracery, 
niches  and  statues,  while  above  it  rise  four  turrets,  which 
were  all  once  surmounted  by  spire-work  of  beautiful  design 
and  open  carving ;  but  one  only  now  remains  in  its  original 
state,  the  other  three  were  deprived  of  these  elegant  por- 
tions by  a  tremendous  storm  of  thunder  and  lightning, 
which  happened  on  the  25th  of  June  in  the  year  1683. 

It  is  impossible  for  words  to  describe  the  gorgeousness 
of  the  porch  and  portal  in  the  centre  of  this  facade — what 
more  can  Gothic  architecture  do  \  It  is  rich,  elegant  and 
delicate  in  the  extreme  i  it  abounds  with  niches  and  statues 


ROUEN  CATHEDRAL  3 

and  an  almost  endless  variety  of  open  and  free  tracery  of 
the  most  beautiful  description,  and  may  be,  not  inaptly, 
called  a  gigantic  ornament  of  filigree  in  stone ;  and  a  mon- 
ument both  of  the  munificence  of  the  cardinal,  at  whose 
expense  it  was  wrought,  and  of  the  brilliant  talents  of  the 
architects,  who  strove  and  who  have  done  ample  justice  to 
that  munificence  by  the  production  of  this  astonishing  per- 
formance. The  great  gable  which  surmounts  the  portal 
with  tracery  and  bas-relief  (except  where  the  Cathedral 
clock  is  placed),  and  is  attached  to  the  flanking  buttresses 
by  a  row  of  pointed  arches,  behind  which  runs  a  gallery 
with  a  front  of  carved  stone.  Above  the  porch,  and  partly 
concealed  by  its  acute  angled  gable,  is  the  large  rose  win- 
dow within  a  pointed  arch,  so  often  found  in  French  cathe- 
drals, and  under  similar  circumstances.  Above  this  is  a 
gallery  adorned  with  a  row  of  pointed  arches  with  pinnacles 
and  canopies,  and  above  this  again  rises  the  gable  itself  of 
the  nave  of  the  Cathedral,  enriched  with  sculpture  and 
fretwork,  and  forming  as  it  were  a  crown  to  the  central 
part  of  this  immense  facade.  The  two  lateral  portals  be- 
long to  an  earlier  age,  as  is  plainly  to  be  seen  by  the  style 
of  them;  they  are  both  decorated  with  bas-reliefs.  Upon 
the  tympanum  of  that  towards  the  Butter  Tower,  the  Vir- 
gin is  seen,  surrounded  with  angels  ;  upon  the  tympanum 
of  the  other,  Salome  dancing  before  Herod ;  and  again  the 
same  Salome  presenting  the  head  of  John  the  Baptist  to  her 
mother. 

We  come  now  to  the  towers  which  terminate  this  facade 
at  either  end.  That  at  the  north  end  called  the  Tower  of 
St.  Romain,  from  the  base  to  the  upper  story  of  it,  is  very 
simple  when  compared  to  that  upper  portion,  and  to  the 
rest  of  the  facade.     It  is  terminated  by  a  roof  of  wood  cov- 


4  ROUEN  CATHEDRAL 

ered  with  lead,  very  graceful  in  its  form  and  not  unlike  a 
martial  tent;  and  rising  so  high  above  the  parapet  as  to 
make  this  of  equal  height  with  the  other  tower.  Of  the 
beauty  of  that  other,  too  much  cannot  be  said. 

Like  the  Tower  of  St.  Romain,  the  greater  part  of  it  is 
square,  but  unlike  that  in  having  angular  buttresses  deco- 
rated with  statues,  and  a  buttress  also  running  up  the  centre 
of  each  side,  adorned  in  the  same  manner.  The  spaces 
between  the  buttresses  in  the  three  lower  stories  of  the 
tower  are  filled  with  mull  ions  and  tracery  in  the  form  of 
pointed  windows;  above  this  portion  of  the  tower  are  two 
open  galleries  of  beautiful  workmanship,  one  above  the 
other,  and  between  them,  in  each  of  the  four  faces  of  the 
tower,  are  four  windows  pierced  but  not  glazed,  and  deco- 
rated with  fretwork  and  surmounted  with  open  canopies. 
Above  these  windows  the  tower  takes  an  octagonal  form 
and  is  pierced  with  a  large  pointed  window  in  each  side  full 
of  good  tracery.  It  is  also  adorned  with  an  intricacy  of 
detail,  beautiful  indeed,  but  not  to  be  described  by  words, 
and  surmounted  with  a  graceful  open  parapet  adorned 
with  delicate  crocketed  pinnacles  thickly  set,  crowning  the 
whole  as  with  a  diadem  of  stone.  This  tower,  though  vul- 
garly called  the  Butter  Tower,^  is  also  known  by  the  name 
of  George  d'  Amboise,  at  whose  expense  it  was  erected. 
The  space  between  this  tower  and  the  west  end  of  the  nave 
is  less  than  that  between  the  same  west  end  and  the  Tower 
of  St.  Romain,  so  that  while  the  former  is  filled  up  with 
only  three  arches,  the  latter  space  has  four.  So  much, 
however,  is  the  eye  engaged  in   contemplating   the   splen- 

1  It  was  called  the  Butter  Tower  because  the  expense  of  building  it 
was  defrayed  by  the  money  which  was  procured  by  the  sale  of  permis- 
sion to  eat  butter  during  Lent  in  the  dioceses  of  Rouen  and  Evreux. 


ROUEN  CATHEDRAL  5 

dour  of  this  facade,  and  so  filled  and  enraptured  as  It 
gazes,  that  this  irregularity  is  scarcely  ever  detected  at  first 
sight. 

A  delight  mingled  with  somewhat  of  awe  steals  upon  the 
spectator  on  his  first  introduction  into  this  vast  and  beauti- 
fully proportioned  temple.  It  was  once  observed  by  a 
stranger  entering  King's  College  Chapel,  in  Cambridge,  for 
the  first  time  :  "  This  is  a  place  for  angels  to  worship  in  "  ; 
of  the  interior  of  the  Cathedral  of  Rouen  the  stranger 
would  describe  his  feelings  by  saying, — surely,  this  is  the 
antechamber  of  the  Divine  Presence. 

Whether  owing  to  this  awe-inspiring  quality,  or  to  the 
more  than  commonly  good  taste  and  good  feelings  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Rouen,  or  to  mere  accident,  it  is  certain  that 
the  interior  of  this  Cathedral  has  suffered  much  less  than  the 
exterior,  and  much  less  than  most  other  cathedrals  have  in- 
ternally in  the  ravages  of  the  Revolution.  On  entering, 
the  eye  enjoys  an  uninterrupted  view  of  the  whole  length  of 
the  Cathedral,  and  through  the  intercolumniations  of  the 
apse  the  whole  length  of  the  Lady  Chapel  also.  Noth- 
ing in  architecture  can  exceed  the  beauty  and  mag- 
nificence of  this  general  view  of  the  interior  of  Rouen 
Cathedral. 

Above  the  pillars  and  arches  of  the  nave  runs  another 
line  of  both  in  the  place  of  a  triforlum  ;  above  this  again  are 
two  galleries,  one  above  the  other ;  and  higher  yet,  and 
crowning  all,  is  seen  the  clerestory  with  its  windows,  so 
that  there  are  five  horizontal  divisions  in  the  walls  of  the 
nave  which  has  no  parallel  in  England.  The  vaulting  is  of 
the  simplest  kind,  both  of  the  nave  and  side  aisles  ;  that  of 
the  latter  springs  from  the  level  of  the  second  row  of  pillars 
and  arches  in  the  nave,  an  arrangement  to  be  found  in  only 


6  ROUEN  CATHEDRAL 

one  instance  in  England ;  namely,  in  the  abbey  church  of 
Waltham. 

Eleven  clustered  columns  and  ten  pointed  arches  on  each 
side  support  the  walls  of  the  nave  :  the  eight  columns  of  the 
transept  are  of  the  same  size  and  form,  but  the  four  col- 
umns which  support  the  central  tower,  though  of  the  same 
form,  are  nearly  double  the  circumference,  and  more  than 
thrice  the  height. 

The  columns  of  the  choir,  fourteen  in  number,  are 
cylindrical,  six  of  them  are  in  the  apse,  which  is  pentagonal. 
The  arcades  of  the  choir,  both  above  and  below,  are  pecul- 
iarly light  and^  elegant.  The  great  altar  is  isolated  and 
occupies  the  centre  of  the  apse. 

The  Cathedral  is  lighted  by  one  hundred  and  thirty  win- 
dows, some  of  which  are  still  adorned  with  the  original 
painted  glass.  The  great  windows  of  the  nave,  the  tran- 
sept, and  some  of  those  in  the  choir  are,  however,  of  com- 
mon glass,  with  medallions  and  scrolls  of  painted  glass  in- 
serted at  intervals.  The  other  windows  of  the  choir  are 
adorned  with  painted  glass,  representing  figures  of  saints 
and  archbishops.  That  at  the  end  represents  the  Saviour  on 
the  cross,  above  which  is  seen  the  sun  and  the  moon  ;  in 
the  glass  next  to  this  the  Virgin  is  represented  with  the 
Apostles  Peter  and  John,  together  with  inscriptions  in  large 
letters.  The  painted  glass  in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Romain  is 
very  much,  and  very  justly,  esteemed,  and  represents  the 
principal  actions  of  his  life. 

Besides  these  windows  already  enumerated,  the  Cathedral 
is  lighted  also  by  three  rose  windows,  one  at  each  end  of 
the  transept  and  one  over  the  organ  at  the  west  end  of  the 
nave.  Those  at  the  two  ends  of  the  transept  are  of  white 
glass  ornamented   with  medallions  of  stained  glass,  repre- 


ROUEN  CATHEDRAL  7 

senting  various  subjects  from  Scripture  history.  In  respect 
of  glazing,  however,  the  rose  window  at  the  north  end  is 
greatly  superior  to  that  of  the  south.  That  of  the  west  end 
of  the  nave  is  greatly  superior  to  them  both  in  point  of  the 
variety  and  beauty  of  its  colours.  The  attention  is  caught 
equally  by  the  architectural  design  of  the  rose,  and  the  in- 
genious combination  of  colours  in  the  glazing  in  which  red 
and  blue  predominate.  In  the  middle  is  what  we  would 
rather  never  see  attempted,  a  figure  to  represent  the  Deity, 
surrounded  by  a  multitude  of  angels,  holding  musical  instru- 
ments of  various  kinds  which  occupy  the  other  compart- 
ments of  the  rose.  Around  the  great  arch  which  serves  as 
a  frame  to  the  rose  window  are  placed  ten  figures  of  angels 
holding  the  instruments  of  the  Passion  in  their  hands.  Be- 
fore this  window  runs  a  gallery  of  open  carving  very  rich, 
with  the  two  extremities  cutting  off  the  corners  of  the  nave  ; 
the  same  arrangement  is  to  be  seen  in  the  transept  of  Evreux 
Cathedral ;  underneath  this  runs  another  gallery  composed 
of  a  beautiful  arcade  of  pointed  arches  and  slender  columns, 
which  unfortunately  is  in  a  great  measure  concealed  by  the 
vast  organ  which  is  placed  in  front  of  it. 

We  now  arrive  at  the  transept  with  its  side  aisles  and 
central  tower,  or  lantern,  as  it  is  here  called.  It  is  seldom 
that  a  transept  corresponds  with  the  nave  so  entirely  as  in 
this  instance,  being  nearly  of  the  same  date,  and  divided 
into  a  middle  and  side  aisles  by  columns  and  arches  of  the 
same  design.  The  extremities  of  the  transept,  besides  the 
rose  windows  which  light  it,  are  adorned  also  with  many 
niches,  canopies  and  trefoiled  headed  arcades  cut  in  the  walls. 

At  the  end  of  the  northwestern  side  aisle  of  the  transept 
is  a  staircase  of  very  beautiful  Gothic  design,  in  open 
tracery,  which  once  led  to  the  library  and  to  the  archives  of 


8  ROUEN  CATHEDRAL 

the  chapter.  Near  the  staircase  is  a  door  by  which  the 
canons  formerly  went  from  the  Cathedral  into  the  Chapter- 
house. 

The  Chapels  of  the  Cathedral  which  add  to  its  vastness, 
if  not  to  its  embellishment,  are  five-and-twenty  in  number, 
and  still  exhibit  some  remains  of  their  former  magnificence. 


ST.  MARK'S,  VENICE 

TH^OPHILE  GAUTIER 

LIKE  the  mosque  of  Cordova,  with  which  it  offers  more 
than  one  point  of  resemblance,  the  basilica  of  St. 
Mark  has  more  width  than  height,  unlike  the  usual  Gothic 
church,  which  springs  towards  the  sky  with  numerous  arches, 
spires  and  pinnacles.  The  great  central  cupola  has  an 
elevation  of  only  a  hundred  and  ten  feet.  St.  Mark's  pre- 
served much  of  primitive  Christianity  when,  scarcely  out  of 
the  catacombs,  it  tried,  not  yet  possessing  any  formulated 
art,  to  build  a  church  with  the  debris  of  antique  temples  and 
the  conceptions  of  Pagan  art.  Begun  in  979,  under  the 
Doge  Piero  Orseolo,  the  basilica  of  St.  Mark  was  built 
slowly,  being  enriched  in  each  century  with  some  new 
treasure  and  beauty,  and,  a  strange  thing  that  upsets  all 
ideas  of  proportion,  this  mass  of  columns,  bas-reliefs, 
enamels  and  mosaics,  this  mixture  of  styles,  Greek,  Roman, 
Byzantine,  Arab  and  Gothic,  produces  a  most  harmonious 
whole. 

This  incoherent  temple  in  which  the  Pagan  would  find 
again  the  altar  of  Neptune  with  its  dolphins,  tridents  and 
sea-shells  serving  as  holy  water  basins  ;  in  which  the  Mo- 
hammedan might  believe  himself  to  be  in  the  mirah  of  his 
own  mosque  on  seeing  inscriptions  running  around  the 
vaultings,  like  Surahs  from  the  Koran  ;  and  in  which  the 
Greek  Christian  would  find  his  Panagia  crowned  like  an 
empress  of  Constantinople,  his  barbaric  Christ  with  inter- 


lO  ST.  MARK'S,  VENICE 

laced  monogram,  the  special  saints  of  his  calendar  drawn  in 
the  style  of  Panselinos  and  the  artist-monks  of  the  holy 
mountain ;  and  in  which  the  Roman  Catholic  feels  living 
and  palpitating  in  the  shade  of  the  naves  illuminated  by  the 
tawny  reflection  of  the  gold  mosaics  the  absolute  faith  of 
the  early  days,  the  submission  to  dogma  and  hieratic  forms, 
the  mysterious  and  profound  Christianity  of  the  ages  of  be- 
lief; this  temple,  made  of  fragments  and  pieces  that  oppose 
one  another,  enchants  and  caresses  the  vision  better  than 
could  be  effected  by  the  most  correct  and  symmetrical  ar- 
chitecture ;  its  unity  results  from  its  multiformity.  Round 
and  pointed  arches,  trefoils,  colonnettes,  flower-work,  cu- 
polas, slabs  of  marble,  backgrounds  of  gold  and  bright 
colours  of  mosaic, — all  this  arranges  itself  with  rare  happi- 
ness, and  forms  a  most  magnificent  monumental  bouquet. 

The  side  facing  the  square  has  five  porches  leading  into 
the  church,  and  two  opening  under  the  exterior  lateral  gal- 
leries ;  seven  in  all,  three  on  each  side  of  the  great  central 
porch.  The  principal  doorway  is  marked  by  two  groups 
of  four  columns  of  porphyry  and  verd-antique  on  the  first 
story,  and  six  on  the  second  that  support  the  spring  of  the 
arch.  The  other  porches  have  only  two  columns,  also  in 
two  stages.  We  only  speak  here  of  the  facade  itself,  for 
the  depth  of  the  porches  is  adorned  with  other  colonnettes 
of  cipolin  marble,  jasper,  pentelic,  and  other  precious  ma- 
terial. 

We  will  examine  in  some  detail  the  mosaics  and  orna- 
ments of  this  marvellous  porch.  Beginning  with  the  first 
arcade  on  the  water  side  we  notice  over  a  square  door 
closed  with  a  grille  a  black  Byzantine  plaque  in  the  form 
of  a  reliquary,  with  two  angels  embraced  on  the  ribs  of  the 
ogive.     Higher  up,  in  the  tympanum  of  the  arch,  is  a  large 


ST.   MARK'S,   VENICE 


ST.  MARK'S,  VENICE  II 

mosaic  on  a  gold  background  representing  the  body  of  St, 
Mark  removed  from  the  crypt  of  Alexandria  and  smuggled 
through  the  Turkish  customs  between  two  sides  of  pork — an 
unclean  meat  of  which  Mussulmans  have  a  horror,  and  the 
contact  of  which  would  necessitate  innumerable  ablutions. 
The  unbelievers  are  scattering  with  gestures  of  disgust, 
stupidly  allowing  the  body  of  the  holy  Apostle  to  be  carried 
off.  This  mosaic  was  executed  after  the  cartoons  of  Pietro 
Vecchia,  about  1650.  In  the  springing  of  the  archivolt 
on  the  right  is  an  antique  bas-relief  representing  Hercules 
with  the  Erymanthian  Hind  on  his  shoulders  and  trampling 
on  the  Lernaean  Hydra ;  and  on  the  springing  on  the  left 
(from  the  spectator's  point  of  view)  by  one  of  those  con- 
trasts so  frequent  in  St.  Mark's,  we  see  the  angel  Gabriel 
standing,  winged,  booted  and  nimbused,  leaning  upon  his 
lance — a  singular  pendant  to  the  son  of  Alcmene  and 
Jupiter ! 

In  the  second  arcade  is  cut  a  door  that  is  not  symmet- 
rical with  the  other.  This  one  is  surmounted  with  a  win- 
dow of  three  ogives  in  the  head  of  which  are  two  quatre- 
foils,  surrounded  with  a  band  of  enamel.  The  mosaic  of 
the  tympanum,  also  on  a  gold  ground  like  all  those  in  St. 
Mark's,  has  for  its  subject  the  arrival  of  the  Apostle's  body 
at  Venice,  where  it  is  received  on  disembarkation  by  the 
clergy  and  the  notables  of  the  city.  We  see  the  ship,  and 
the  wicker  crate  that  transported  it.  This  mosaic  is  also  by 
Pietro  Vecchia. 

A  St.  Demetrius,  seated,  with  sword  half  unsheathed,  his 
name  carved  near  his  head,  of  a  very  savage  and  Lowrr  Em- 
pire aspect,  continues  the  line  of  bas-reliefs  set  in  the  fa- 
cade of  the  basilica  as  in  the  wall  of  a  museum. 

The  central  doorway  is,  as  it  should  be,  richer  and  more 


12  ST.  MARK'S,   VENICE 

highly  ornamented  than  the  others.  Besides  the  mass  of 
columns  of  ancient  marble  that  support  it  and  give  it  im- 
portance, three  rows,  two  interior  and  one  exterior,  strongly 
outline  its  arc  by  their  projection.  These  three  toruses  of 
ornaments  carved,  dug  out  and  cut  with  marvellous  pa- 
tience are  composed  of  a  bunchy  spiral  of  leaves,  branches, 
flowers,  fruits,  birds,  angels,  saints,  figurines  and  chimaera 
of  all  kinds ;  In  the  last  one,  the  arabesques  spring  from 
the  hands  of  two  statues  seated  at  each  end  of  the  cordon. 

The  door,  garnished  with  bronze  valves  studded  with 
snouts  of  fantastic  animals.  Is  crowned  with  a  niche  with 
wings  gilded,  trellissed  and  pierced  like  those  of  a  triptych, 
or  cabinet. 

A  Last  Judgment  of  great  size  occupies  the  top  of  the 
arcade.  The  composition  was  by  Antonio  ZanchI,  and  the 
translation  into  mosaic  by  Pletro  Spagna.  The  work  dates 
from  about  1680,  and  was  restored  in  1858  In  accordance 
with  the  original  design. 

It  Is  above  this  porch,  on  the  gallery  that  runs  around  the 
church,  that  are  placed,  having  ancient  pillars  for  bases, 
the  celebrated  horses  that  for  a  short  time  ornamented  the 
Carrousel  triumphal  arch.  Opinions  greatly  differ  regard- 
ing their  origin.  Some  Insist  that  they  are  Roman  work  of 
Nero's  day,  transported  to  Constantinople  In  the  Fourth 
Century  ;  others  consider  them  Greek  work  of  the  Isle  of 
Chios  brought  to  that  city  in  the  Fifth  Century  by  order  of 
Theodosius,  and  used  to  decorate  the  hippodrome  ;  and 
still  others  affirm  that  these  horses  are  the  work  of  Lyslppus 
— what  Is  certain  Is  that  they  are  antiques,  and  that  in 
1205  A.  D.  Marino  Zeno  who  was  Podestat  at  Constanti- 
nople for  the  Venetians  had  them  removed  from  the  hip- 
podrome   and   given    to   Venice.     These    horses    may  be 


ST,  MARK'S,  VENICE  I3 

classed  among  the  most  beautiful  relics  of  antiquity.  They 
are  historic  and  genuine — rare  qualities.  Their  action 
shows  that  they  were  harnessed  to  some  triumphal  quadriga. 
Their  material  is  no  less  precious  than  their  form.  It  is 
said  that  they  are  of  Corinthian  bronze,  the  greenish  surface 
of  which  is  visible  through  a  gilded  varnish  scaled  by  time. 

In  the  lower  part,  the  fourth  porch  presents  the  same  dis- 
tribution as  the  second.  The  tympanum  of  the  arcade  is 
occupied  by  a  mosaic  representing  the  Doge,  senators  and 
patricians  of  Venice  coming  to  honour  the  body  of  St.  Mark 
extended  on  a  bier  and  covered  with  a  brilliant  blue  drapery. 
In  the  corner  is  a  group  of  Turks  in  despair  at  having  al- 
lowed the  robbery  of  such  a  treasure.  This  mosaic,  most 
brilliant  in  tone,  was  executed  by  Leopoldo  del  Pozzo  after 
the  design  of  Sebastian  Rizzi,  in  1728.  It  is  very  beauti- 
ful. In  the  springing  of  the  archivolt  adjoining  the  great 
doorway,  we  see  a  St.  George,  in  Greco-Byzantine  style  j 
in  the  other,  an  angel,  or  unknown  saint. 

The  fifth  porch  is  one  of  the  most  curious  of  all.  Five 
little  windows  of  gold  trellis  work  and  varied  cutting  fill 
the  lower  part.  Above,  the  four  evangelical  symbols  in 
gilt  bronze,  the  ox,  lion,  eagle  and  angel,  as  fantastic  in 
form  as  Japanese  chimaera  gaze  suspiciously  at  one  an- 
other, whilst  a  strange  cavalier  mounted  on  what  may  be 
either  Pegasus,  or  the  pale  horse  of  the  Apocalypse,  caracoles 
between  two  gold  rosettes.  The  capitals  of  the  columns 
are  also  of  a  more  savage,  archaic  and  bushy  taste  than  any- 
where else. 

Higher  up,  a  mosaic,  the  work  of  an  unknown  Twelfth 
Century  artist,  contains  a  picture  of  great  interest,  a  view 
of  the  church  constructed  to  receive  the  relics  of  St.  Mark 
as  it  was  eight  hundred  years  ago. 


14  ST.  MARK'S,  VENICE 

The  line  of  bas-reliefs  ends  on  this  side  with  a  Her- 
cules carrying  the  Calydonian  boar.  Under  this  are  two 
lions  rampant,  and,  a  little  lower  still,  an  antique  figure 
holds  an  inverted  amphora  on  his  shoulder.  This  theme, 
given  doubtless  by  chance,  has  been  happily  repeated  in  the 
rest  of  the  edifice. 

This  row  of  porches  which  forms  the  first  story  of  the 
facade  is  bordered  by  a  balustrade  of  white  marble ;  the 
second  contains  five  arcades,  the  central  one  of  which, 
larger  than  the  others,  arches  behind  the  horses  of  Lysippus, 
and  instead  of  mosaic  is  glazed  with  round  glasses  and 
adorned  with  four  antique  pilasters. 

Six  bell-turrets,  composed  of  four  open  columns  forming 
a  niche  for  the  statue  of  an  evangelist  separate  these  arcades, 
the  tympanum  of  which  is  round  arched  while  the  ribs  are 
ogival.  The  four  subjects  of  the  mosaics  are  the  Ascen- 
sion, Resurrection,  Jesus  raising  Adam  and  Eve  and  the 
Patriarchs  out  of  Purgatory,  and  the  Descent  from  the  Cross 
by  Luigi  Gaetano,  after  cartoons  by  Maffeo  Verona,  in 
1617.  In  the  springings  of  the  arcades  are  nude  figures  of 
slaves  of  natural  size  with  urns  and  amphorae  on  their 
shoulders. 

In  the  ogival  point  of  the  great  central  window,  against 
a  dark  blue  ground  sewn  with  stars  stands  out  the  lion  of 
St.  Mark,  gilded,  nimbused,  with  outspread  wings,  and  paw 
on  an  open  testament  on  which  are  inscribed  the  words : 
Pax  tihi^  Marce^  evangelista  mens.  Above  this  symbolical 
representation  of  the  Evangelist,  St.  Mark,  this  time  in  hu- 
man form,  stands  and  seems  to  receive  the  homage  of  the 
neighbouring  statues.  On  each  gable  stands  a  statue,  St. 
John,  St.  George,  St.  Theodore  and  St.  Michael,  wearing 
a  nimbus  for  a  hat. 


ST.  MARK'S,  VENICE  I5 

At  each  end  of  the  balustrade  are  two  flag  staffs  painted 
red,  for  flying  flags  on  Sundays  and  fete  days. 

The  lateral  facade,  looking  on  the  Piazzetta  and  touch- 
ing the  Ducal  palace  also  deserves  attention.  It  is  carved 
with  antique  bas-reliefs  of  various  subjects. 

Incrustations  of  malachite,  various  enamels,  two  little 
angels  in  mosaic  displaying  the  linen  that  retains  the  Di- 
vine imprint,  a  great  barbarian  Madonna  presenting  her  son 
to  the  adoration  of  the  faithful,  and  flanked  by  two  lamps 
which  are  lit  every  evening ;  a  bas-relief  of  peacocks 
spreading  their  tails,  perhaps  coming  from  an  ancient  temple 
to  Juno ;  a  St.  Christopher  loaded  with  his  burden,  and 
capitals  of  basket  work  and  the  most  charming  caprice : 
such  are  the  riches  presented  by  this  corner  of  the  basilica 
to  the  promenaders  in  the  Piazzetta. 

The  other  lateral  face  looks  on  a  little  square,  an  exten- 
sion of  the  Piazza.  It  is  fronted  by  the  palace  of  the  Pa- 
triarch of  Venice  and  the  church  of  San  Basso. 

Entering  the  Cathedral,  the  door  is  surmounted  by  a  St. 
Mark  in  pontifical  robes,  after  a  cartoon  by  Titian,  by  the 
Zuccati  brothers.  This  mosaic  has  a  brilliancy  that  ex- 
plains why  jealous  rivals  accused  the  able  masters  of  having 
employed  painting  instead  of  confining  themselves  to  ordi- 
nary resources. 

There  is  nothing  that  can  be  compared  with  St.  Mark's, 
Venice, — not  Cologne,  Strassburg,  Seville,  nor  even  Cordova 
with  its  mosque  :  it  produces  an  astonishing  and  magic  ef- 
fect. The  first  impression  is  that  of  a  cave  of  gold  incrusted 
with  gems,  splendid  and  sombre,  at  once  dazzling  and  myste- 
rious. We  ask  ourselves  whether  we  are  in  an  edifice  or  in 
an  immense  casket. 

The  cupolas,  vaults,  architraves  and  walls  are  covered 


1 6  ST.  MARK'S,  VENICE 

with  little  cubes  of  gilded  crystal,  made  at  Murano,  of  an 
unalterable  splendour,  on  which  the  light  plays  as  on  the 
scales  of  a  fish,  and  which  serve  as  a  field  for  the  inexhaust- 
ible fancies  of  the  mosaists.  Where  the  gold  base  stops, 
at  the  height  of  the  column  begins  a  casing  of  the  most 
precious  and  varied  marbles.  From  the  vault  hangs  a  great 
lamp  in  the  form  of  a  cross  with  four  branches,  with  points 
of  Jieur  de  lis^  attached  to  a  golden  ball  cut  in  filigree,  of 
marvellous  effect  when  it  is  lit.  Six  alabaster  columns  with 
fantastic  Corinthian  capitals  of  gilt  bronze  support  elegant 
arcades  on  which  runs  a  gallery  almost  all  around  the 
church.  The  cupola,  with  the  Paraclete  for  a  hub,  rays  for 
spokes  and  the  twelve  Apostles  for  circumference,  forms  an 
immense  wheel  of  mosaic. 

In  the  pendentives,  tall  serious  angels  display  their  black 
wings  against  tawny  tones.  The  central  dome,  which  digs 
into  the  intersection  of  the  arms  of  the  Greek  cross  formed 
by  the  plan  of  the  basilica,  shows  in  its  vast  cup  Jesus 
Christ  seated  on  a  sphere  in  the  middle  of  a  starry  circle 
upheld  by  two  pairs  of  seraphim.  Above  Him,  the  Divine 
Mother,  standing  between  two  angels,  adores  her  Son  in 
His  glory ;  and  the  Apostles,  each  separated  by  a  naive  tree, 
that  symbolizes  the  Garden  of  Olives,  form  a  celestial 
court,  for  their  Master.  Theological  and  cardinal  virtues 
are  niched  in  the  intercolumniations  of  the  windows  of  the 
small  dome  that  lights  the  vault.  The  Four  Evangelists, 
seated  in  cabinets  of  castellated  form,  are  writing  their 
precious  books  beneath  the  pendentives,  the  extreme  points 
of  which  are  occupied  by  emblematical  figures  pouring 
out  of  an  urn  tilted  on  their  left  shoulder  the  four  rivers  of 
Paradise  :   Gihon,  Pison,  Tigris  and  Euphrates. 

Further  on,  in  the  next  cupola,  the  centre  of  which  is 


ST,  MARK'S,  VENICE  1 7 

filled  with  a  medallion  of  the  Mother  of  God,  the  four 
familiar  animals  of  the  Evangelists,  free  this  time  from  the 
supervision  of  their  masters,  are  devoting  themselves  to 
guarding  the  sacred  manuscripts,  in  chimerical  and  mena- 
cing attitudes,  with  a  plenitude  of  teeth,  claws  and  great  eyes 
that  would  equip  the  dragon  of  the  Hesperides. 

On  the  back  of  the  hollow  that  gleams  vaguely  behind 
the  high  altar,  the  Redeemer  is  represented  under  a  gigantic 
and  disproportioned  figure  to  mark,  according  to  the 
Byzantine  custom,  the  distance  between  the  Divine  person 
and  the  feeble  creature. 

The  atrium  of  the  basilica  is  filled  with  Old  Testament 
history  :  the  interior  contains  the  entire  New  Testament, 
with  the  Apocalypse  for  epilogue.  The  Cathedral  of  St. 
Mark  is  a  great  golden  Bible,  ornamented,  illuminated  and 
flowered, — a  Mediaeval  missal  on  a  grand  scale.  For  eight 
centuries,  a  city  has  turned  over  the  leaves  of  this  monu- 
ment like  a  picture  book  without  growing  weary  in  its  pious 
admiration.  Beside  the  illustration  is  the  text :  everywhere, 
mount,  descend,  and  circulate  that  world  of  angels,  apostles, 
evangelists,  prophets,  and  doctors  with  every  kind  of  face 
that  people  the  cupolas,  vaults,  tympanums,  arches,  pillars, 
pendentives  and  the  smallest  wall  space.  Here,  the 
genealogical  tree  of  the  Virgin  spreads  its  bushy  branches 
which  bear  for  fruit  kings  and  holy  personages,  and  fills  a 
vast  panel  with  its  strange  branchings.  There,  gleams  a 
Paradise  with  its  glory,  its  blessed,  and  its  legions  of  angels. 
This  chapel  contains  the  history  of  the  Virgin ;  that  vault 
displays  the  whole  drama  of  the  Passion,  from  the  kiss 
of  Judas  to  the  appearance  of  the  holy  women,  passing  also 
through  the  Agony  in  the  Garden  of  Olives,  and  Calvary. 
All  who   have   testified  for  Jesus,  whether  by   prophecy. 


1 8  ST.  MARK'S,   VENICE 

preaching,  or  martyrdom,  are  admitted  into  this  great  Chris- 
tian Pantheon.  Here  we  see  St.  Peter  crucified  head  down- 
wards, St.  Paul  beheaded,  St.  Thomas  before  the  Indian 
King  Gondoforo,  St.  Andrew  suffering  his  martyrdom  :  not 
one  of  the  servants  of  Christ  is  forgotten — not  even  St. 
Bacchus.  Greek  saints,  with  whom  we  Latins  have  very 
slight  acquaintance,  augment  this  sacred  multitude :  St. 
Phocas,  St.  Dimitrius,  St.  Procopius,  St.  Hermagoras,  St. 
Euphemia,  St.  Erasma,  St.  Dorothea,  St.  Thecla,  and  all 
the  beautiful  exotic  flowers  of  the  Greek  calendar  that  one 
would  think  painted  after  the  receipts  of  the  manual  of 
painting  of  the  monk  of  Aghia  Lavra  come  to  blossom 
upon  these  trees  of  gold  and  precious  stones. 

At  certain  hours  when  the  shadows  deepen,  and  the  sun 
casts  only  an  oblique  ray  on  the  vaults  and  cupolas,  strange 
effects  are  produced  for  the  eye  of  the  poet  and  the  vision- 
ary. The  gold  grounds  flash  with  dull  gleams.  Here  and 
there  the  little  cubes  of  crystal  glitter  like  sunlit  waves. 
The  contours  of  the  figures  waver  in  this  network  of  light. 
The  stiff  folds  of  the  dalmatics  seem  to  soften  and  float ;  a 
mysterious  life  flows  into  inscriptions,  and  legends  in  Greek, 
Latin,  Leonine  verses,  lines,  sentences,  names,  monograms 
and  specimens  of  calligraphy  of  all  lands  and  all  ages. 
Everywhere  the  black  letter  traces  its  pothooks  and  hangers 
on  the  golden  page  across  the  medley  of  the  mosaic.  It  is 
the  Temple  of  the  Word  rather  than  the  Cathedral  of  St. 
Mark;  an  intellectual  temple,  which,  without  caring  about 
any  particular  order  of  architecture,  builds  itself  with  verses 
of  the  old  and  the  new  faith  and  finds  its  ornamentation  in 
the  display  of  its  doctrine. 

We  should  like  to  be  able  to  convey  an  impression  of  the 
dazzle  and  vertigo  produced  by  these  immobile  Byzantine 


ST.  MARK'S,  VENICE  IQ 

people ;  the  fixed  eyes  turn ;  the  arms,  of  Egyptian  gesture, 
move ;  the  fixed  feet  begin  to  walk  j  the  cherubim  wheel  upon 
their  eight  wings ;  the  angels  spread  their  long  feathers  of 
azure  and'purple  nailed  to  the  wall  by  the  implacable  mosaist  j 
the  genealogical  tree  shakes  its  leaves  of  green  marble ;  the 
lion  of  St.  Mark  rises,  yawns  and  stretches  out  his  clawed 
paw ;  the  eagle  sharpens  his  beak  and  plumes  his  feathers ; 
the  ox  turns  on  his  litter  and  ruminates  as  he  swings  his 
tail.  The  martyrs  arise  from  their  grills,  or  get  off  their 
crosses.  The  prophets  converse  with  the  evangelists. 
The  doctors  make  observations  to  the  young  saints,  who 
smile  with  their  porphyry  lips.  The  people  of  the  mo- 
saics become  processions  of  phantoms  that  go  up  and  down 
the  walls,  circulate  around  the  galleries,  and  pass  before 
you  shaking  the  hairy  gold  of  their  nimbuses.  It  is  all 
dazzle,  vertigo  and  hallucination  I 

When  we  lower  our  eyes  to  the  ground,  we  see  on  the 
left  the  little  chapel  built  for  a  miraculous  Christ  which 
bled  when  struck  by  a  profane  hand.  Its  dome,  supported 
by  columns  of  exceeding  value,  two  being  of  black  and 
white  porphyry,  is  crowned  by  a  ball  consisting  of  the  big- 
gest agate  in  the  world. 

At  the  end,  is  the  choir,  with  its  balustrade,  its  porphyry 
columns,  its  row  of  statues  carved  by  the  Massegne  broth- 
ers, and  its  great  metal  cross  by  Jacopo  Benato ;  its  two 
pulpits  of  coloured  marble ;  and  its  altar,  visible  under  a 
dais,  between  four  columns  of  Greek  marble,  carved  like 
Chinese  ivory  work  by  patient  hands  that  have  inscribed 
the  whole  story  of  the  Old  Testament  in  little  figures  four 
inches  high. 

The  pala  of  this  altar,  called  the  pala  d'oro,  has  for  its  cas- 
ing a  compartment  picture  in  the  style  of  the  Lower  Empire. 


20  ST.   MARK'S,  VENICE 

The  pala  itself  is  a  dazzling  mass  of  enamels,  cameos, 
niello  work,  pearls,  garnets,  sapphires,  open  gold  and  silver 
work,  a  picture  of  precious  stones  representing  scenes  of 
the  life  of  St.  Mark,  surrounded  with  angels,  apostles  and 
prophets.  This  pala  was  made  in  Constantinople  in  976, 
and  restored  in  1342  by  Giambi  Bonasegna. 

The  black  altar,  the  cryptic  altar,  has  remarkable  col- 
umns of  alabaster,  two  of  which  are  extraordinarily  trans- 
parent. Near  this  altar  is  the  wonderful  bronze  door  on 
which  Sansovino  has  left  beside  his  own  portrait  those  of 
his  close  friends,  Titian  Palma  and  Aretino.  This  door 
leads  to  a  sacristy  the  ceiling  of  which  is  an  admirable  mo- 
saic in  arabesque  by  Marco  Rizzi  and  Francesco  Zuccato, 
after  designs  by  Titian.  It  is  impossible  to  imagine  any- 
thing more  rich,  elegant  and  beautiful. 

The  mosaic  pavement  which  undulates  like  the  sea,  on 
account  of  its  age,  offers  the  most  marvellous  medley  of 
arabesques,  tendrils,  fleurons,  lozenges,  interlacings,  checker 
work,  cranes,  griffons,  and  chimaera  winged  and  clawed,  in 
heraldic  attitudes.  There  is  sufficient  material  here  to  fur- 
nish designs  for  the  Gobelins  and  Beauvais  manufacturers 
for  centuries.  One  is  awed  and  overwhelmed  by  the  cre- 
ative faculty  displayed  by  man  in  the  realm  of  ornamental 
fancy. 

What  time,  care,  patience  and  genius,  what  expenditure 
were  required  for  eight  centuries  to  collect  this  immense 
mass  of  treasures  and  masterpieces  !  How  many  golden 
sequins  were  melted  down  into  the  mosaic  !  How  many 
ancient  temples  and  mosques  gave  up  their  pillars  to  sup- 
port these  cupolas  !  How  many  quarries  have  exhausted 
their  veins  for  these  slabs  and  columns  and  casings  of 
marble,  granite,  alabaster,  verd-antique,  porphyry,   serpen- 


ST.  MARK'S,  VENICE  21 

tine  and  jaspar,  of  all  tints!  What  armies  of  artists,  gen- 
eration after  generation,  have  designed  and  carved  in  this 
cathedral  I  Apart  from  the  forgotten  and  humble  workers, 
what  a  list  might  be  made  of  names  worthy  to  be  inscribed 
in  the  golden  book  of  art ! 

Among  the  painters  who  furnished  the  cartoons  for  the 
mosaics,  for  there  is  not  a  single  painting  in  St.  Mark's,  we 
find  Titian,  Tintoret,  Palma,  the  Paduan,  Salviati,  Aliense, 
Pilotti,  Sebastian  Rizzi  and  Tizianello.  At  the  head  of 
the  masters  of  mosiac,  we  must  place  Petrus  the  Elder,  the 
author  of  the  colossal  Christ  that  occupies  the  back  wall  of 
the  church.  Then  come  the  Zuccati  brothers,  Bozza, 
Vincenzo  Bianchini,  Luigi  Gaetano,  Michaele  Zambono 
and  Giacomo  Passerini,  Among  the  sculptors,  who  were 
all  of  such  prodigious  talent  that  we  are  astonished  that 
they  are  not  better  known,  are  Pietro  Lombard,  Campanato, 
Zuane  Alberghetti,  Paolo  Savi,  the  Delle  Massegne  brothers, 
Jacopo  Benato,  Sansovino,  P.  Zuana  delle  Campane,  Lo- 
renzo Breghno,  and  a  thousand  others,  one  alone  of  whom 
would  suffice  to  glorify  an  epoch. 


PETERBOROUGH  CATHEDRAL 

W.  J.   LOFTIE 

PETERBOROUGH  is  on  the  Nene,  and  borders  the 
great  fen  country  of  Lincoln  and  Cambridgeshire, 
but  stands  itself  within  Northamptonshire,  having  a  suburb 
across  the  river  in  Huntingdonshire. 

Several  of  the  largest  and  most  important  of  English  ab- 
beys were  in  this  neighbourhood  among  the  fens,  such  as 
Ely,  Crowland,  Ramsey,  Thorney,  Kirkstead,  and  Oseney. 
There  is  an  ancient  rhyme  in  which  Peterborough  is  men- 
tioned : — 

**  Ramsey,  the  rich  of  gold  and  fee, 
Thorney,  the  flower  of  many  a  tree, 
Crowland,  the  courteous  of  thine  meat  and  drink, 
Spalding,  the  gluttons,  as  all  men  think, 
Peterborough,  the  proud, 
Sawtrey,  by  the  way  ; 
That  old  abbey 
Gave  more  alms  in  one  day 
Than  all  they." 

The  abbey  was  originally  known  as  Medehampstead,  and 
is  said  to  have  been  founded  by  King  Penda  in  the  Seventh 
Century.  It  was  rebuilt  for  Benedictines,  by  Ethelwold, 
Bishop  of  Winchester  (963-984),  and  was  dedicated  to  St. 
Peter,  whence  the  little  town  was  called  Peterborough. 
The  lord  abbot  was  a  Peer  of  Parliament,  like  his  neighbour 
at  Ramsey.     "  All,  of  what  degree  soever  who  entered  the 


PETERBOROUGH  CATHEDRAL  23 

great  gate,  did  so  barefoot."  No  wonder  it  was  called 
proud  ! 

The  approach  is  eminently  monastic,  through  a  Norman 
arch  over  which  is  the  chapel  of  St.  Nicholas.  A  fine  view 
of  the  best  feature  of  Peterborough,  the  west  front,  is  imme- 
diately opened  with  a  foreground  of  smooth  turf.  The 
great  portico,  with  its  three  arches,  eighty  feet  high,  of  pure 
Early  English  style,  is  unlike  anything  else  in  England,  and 
inspires  universal  surprise  and  admiration.  It  was  built  on 
the  old  Norman  church,  but  does  not  actually  touch  the 
western  wall.  The  nave  was  completed  in  the  Norman 
style  by  Abbot  Benedict  between  1177  and  1193;  the 
transepts  and  choir  are  earlier,  all  being  strictly  Norman, 
with  a  nearly  flat  pointed  roof.  The  northwest  tower  was 
built  for  a  belfry  about  the  middle  of  the  Thirteenth  Cen- 
tury. The  western  transept  was  built  before  1200  by  Ab- 
bot Andrew,  only  one  of  the  transeptal  bell-towers  being 
completed,  that  to  the  north,  which  tell  the  close  of  the 
Seventeenth  Century  had  a  spire. 

The  west  front,  with  its  three  magnificent  doorways  and 
the  original  wooden  doors,  was  the  work  of  Abbots  Zachary 
and  Robert  of  Lindsey,  about  1200  to  1222.  The  gables 
of  the  west  transept  are  of  the  same  date.  In  1272,  the 
Lady  Chapel  was  built.  It  has  disappeared.  Another 
chapel  across  the  axis  of  choir  is  behind  the  eastern  apse, 
and  has  a  beautiful  vault  of  fan-work  tracery.  The  win- 
dows are  nearly  all  Perpendicular  within  Norman  arches. 
The  north  side  of  the  church  is  very  grand,  rising  in  five 
stages  in  the  nave,  the  triforium  being  parted  from  the  aisles 
by  a  tier  of  small  lights.  The  north  transept  has  seven 
stages,  three  occupied  by  windows,  two  of  arcades  with 
blind  arches  in  the  battlemented  gable,  which  is  flanked  by 


24  PETERBOROUGH  CATHEDRAL 

octagonal  turrets.  The  clerestory  of  the  choir  and  transept 
consists  of  a  noble  round-headed  arcade. 

The  spires  of  the  portico  are  of  different  sizes  and  de- 
signs. The  northern  does  not  group  well  with  the  tran- 
septal  tower  behind  it,  and  there  is  a  certain  confusion  to 
the  eye  when  so  many  towers  are  in  our  view.  The  south- 
ern transeptal  tower  was  never  carried  above  the  roof.  The 
central  tower,  over  the  choir,  after  being  repeatedly  repaired 
and  restored,  fell  in  1884,  destroying  the  interior  fittings  and 
stalls,  but,  on  the  whole,  doing  less  damage  than  might 
have  been  expected.  The  tower  has  been  rebuilt,  but  not 
to  the  old  pattern,  and  the  four  corner  turrets  have  disap- 
peared.    Mr.  Pearson  is  the  architect. 

We  enter  the  church  through  a  curious  Perpendicular 
porch  within  the  central  arch  of  the  great  portico  or  screen. 
Though  it  does  not  rise  to  more  than  half  the  height  of  the 
arch  above  it,  this  low  porch  has  a  parvis,  or  upper  chamber, 
in  which  is  the  cathedral  library.  These  have  successively 
been  three  west  fronts — one  behind  the  screen,  and  another, 
the  first,  at  the  second  bay  of  the  nave.  The  nave  now 
consists,  between  the  western  end  and  the  choir-screen,  of 
eleven  Norman  bays.  The  wooden  roof  is  painted.  The 
choir  is  now  refitted  for  the  second  or  third  time  ;  the 
old  stalls,  screen,  and  throne  erected  by  Blore  in  1830 
having  been  removed  after  the  fall  of  the  tower.  The 
south  transept  has  aisles,  of  which  the  western .  forms  a 
Chapter-room  and  the  eastern  is  divided  into  the  three 
chapels  of  St.  Oswald,  St.  Benedict  and  SS.  Kineburga  and 
Kenswitha.  The  north  transept  has  no  western  aisle.  In 
the  eastern  are  two  chapels  St.  James  and  St.  John.  The 
sanctuary  ends  above  in  an  apse,  with  five  Norman  windows 
filled  with  Perpendicular  tracery.     Beyond  the  altar  is  the 


PETERBOROUGH  CATHEDRAL  25 

beautiful  retro-choir,  known  as  The  New  Building,  with 
space  for  five  altars  side  by  side,  and  reminding  us  of  the 
nine  altars  of  Durham.  This  retro-choir  is  exquisitely 
vaulted  in  fan  tracery. 

To  the  southward  of  the  nave  are  the  cloister  walls — all 
that  is  left.  On  the  same  side  are  the  ruins  of  the  Early 
English  Infirmary  with  the  chapel  of  St.  Lawrence,  refec- 
tory and  lower  cloisters.  The  Abbot's  Lodge  is  now  the 
Bishop's  Palace.     There  are  many  ancient  features  in  it. 

The  monuments  in  Peterborough  Cathedral  have  suffered 
much.  At  the  Reformation  the  church  was  in  danger  of 
being  pulled  down,  and  the  lead  of  the  roof  was  sold  for  con- 
veyance, it  is  said,  to  Holland,  but  the  ship  foundered  at 
sea.  Chief  Justice  Oliver  St.  John  obtained  a  grant  of  the 
Minster,  and  conveyed  it  to  the  inhabitants  as  a  parish 
church,  after  which  the  wreck  was  stayed.  The  principal 
monuments  now  to  be  seen  are  Abbot  Alexander  of  Hol- 
derness,  died  1226,  an  effigy  in  the  choir;  a  curious  altar, 
possibly  a  tomb,  of  marble,  with  figures  of  Apostles  (?) 
formerly  supposed,  owing  to  a  passage  in  the  forged  chron- 
icle of  Ingulph,  to  be  the  Saxon  monument  of  Abbot  Hedda 
and  his  monks  slain  by  the  Danes  in  833.  It  is  of  Twelfth 
Century  work.  In  the  nave  is  a  memorial  of  a  sexton,  R. 
Scarlett,  who  died  in  1594 — 

**  Hee  had  intered  two  Queenes  within  this  place 
And  this  Townes  Householders  in  his  Life's  space 
Twice  over," 

according  to  the  epitaph  on  his  picture  near  the  west  door. 
Queen   Katharine  of  Aragon  died  at  Kimbolton  on  the 
8th  January,  1535,  and  was  buried  in  Peterborough  Abbey 
church  in  July  of  the  same  year.     A  dark-blue  slab  marks 


26  PETERBOROUGH  CATHEDRAL 

her  grave  in  the  north  aisle  of  the  choir.  After  the  tragical 
death  of  Queen  Mary  of  Scotland,  at  Fotheringay  Castle 
in  February^  1587,  her  body  lay  unburied  even  longer 
than  that  of  her  predecessor  in  misfortune,  but  was  brought 
to  Peterborough  Cathedral,  and  there  interred  on  the  ist 
of  August.  James  I.  let  five-and-twenty  years  elapse  be- 
fore he  removed  his  mother's  body  to  the  Chapel  of  Henry 
VII.  The  gravestone  remains  at  Peterborough  at  the 
east  end  of  the  south  choir  aisle.  It  contrasts  in  our  minds 
with  the  sumptuous  "  marble  hearse  "  at  Westminster. 


AMIENS   CATHEDRAL 

AUGUSTUS    J.  C.  HARE 

THE  first  bishop  of  Amiens  was  S.  Firman  the  Martyr 
(beheaded  by  the  Roman  magistrate  Sebastianus 
Valerius),  to  whom  the  third  bishop,  S.  Firman  the  Con- 
fessor, built  the  first  Cathedral.  The  early  church,  devas- 
tated by  repeated  invasions  of  the  Normans,  was  totally  de- 
stroyed by  fire  in  1218.  The  present  glorious  Cathedral 
of  Notre  Dame  was  begun  by  Evrard  de  Fouilloy  (forty- 
fifth  bishop)  in  1220,  from  plans  of  Robert  de  Luzarches. 
The  first  designs  were  enormous,  but  want  of  funds  caused 
their  restriction  in  1238.  Under  the  next  bishop,  GeofFroi 
d'Eu,  Thomas  and  Regnaud  de  Cormont  succeeded  to  the 
direction  of  the  works,  which  were  not  finished  till  the  end 
of  the  Thirteenth  Century.  The  upper  part  of  the  towers 
and  the  facade  were  not  completed  till  the  Fifteenth  Cen- 
tury ;  the  chapels  of  the  nave  were  added  in  the  Fourteenth 
Century.  The  present  spire  of  1529  replaces  one  of  1240, 
which  was  destroyed  by  lightning.  It  is  difficult  to  realize 
that  it  is  higher  than  that  of  Salisbury,  being  422  feet  above 
the  pavement,  as  the  gigantic  roof  reduces  it  to  such  insig- 
nificance that  it  is  wholly  inadequate  to  relieve  the  monot- 
onous outline  which  is  a  characteristic  of  this  Cathedral 
externally.  The  whole  building  has  undergone  restoration 
of  late  years,  under  Viollet-le-Duc. 

The   Cathedral  of  Amiens  is  the  largest  church  in  the 
world  except  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  St.  Sophia  at  Constanti- 


28  AMIENS  CATHEDRAL 

nople  and  the  Cathedral  at  Cologne.  It  is  difficult  to  ob- 
tain any  good  general  external  view.  The  magnificent 
west  facade  is  preceded  by  a  parvis^  which  supplies  the 
difference  in  level  between  the  east  and  west  ends  of  the 
building.  Here  the  central  Porch  of  Le  Beau  Dieu  cC 
Amiens  takes  its  name  from  the  figure  of  Christ  on  its  cen- 
tral pillar,  which  at  the  time  of  its  erection  was  "  beyond 
all  that  had  then  been  reached  of  sculptured  tenderness  " 
(Ruskin). 

To  the  right  and  left  of  the  stylobate  are  medallions  rep- 
resenting the  Virtues  and  Vices ;  the  Arts  and  Trades 
practised  at  Amiens  at  the  time  of  the  building  of  the 
church;  and  even  two  allegorical  fables  (the  fox  and  the 
crow,  the  wolf  and  the  crane).  On  the  jambs  of  the  portal 
are  the  wise  and  foolish  virgins ;  the  Last  Judgment  is  rep- 
resented in  the  tympanum.  At  the  angles  of  the  porches 
are  the  prophets. 

"  Note  that  the  Apostles  are  all  tranquil,  nearly  all  with 
books,  some  with  crosses,  but  all  with  the  same  message, — 
*  Peace  be  to  this  house.  And  if  the  Son  of  Peace  be  there,' 
etc.  But  the  Prophets — all  seeking  or  wistful,  or  tor- 
mented, or  wondering,  or  praying,  except  only  Daniel. 
The  7nost  tormented  is  Isaiah ;  spiritually  sawn  asunder. 
No  scene  of  his  martyrdom  below,  but  his  seeing  the  Lord 
in  His  temple,  and  yet  feeling  he  had  unclean  lips.  Jere- 
miah also  carries  his  cross — but  more  serenely  "  (Ruskin, 
The  Bible  of  Amieiis). 

The  right  Porch  of  the  Virgin  has,  on  its  central  pillar,  a 
figure  of  the  Virgin,  simple  and  admirable  in  drapery, 
crushing  a  human-headed  monster  with  her  foot.  Below 
are  Adam  and  Eve  and  their  expulsion  from  Paradise.  The 
great  side  statues  represent  the  Annunciation,  the  Visita- 


AMIENS  CATHEDRAL  29 

tion,  the  Presentation  in  the  Temple,  the  Queen  of  Sheba, 
Solomon,  the  Magi,  etc.  In  the  tympanum  are  the  Burial, 
Assumption  and  Coronation  of  the  Virgin ;  the  medallions 
contain  different  incidents  of  her  life. 

The  (left)  Porch  of  S.  Firmin^  the  first  missionary  to 
Amiens,  bears  his  statue — a  simple,  admirable  figure — ■ 
trampling  on  idolatry.  Round  him  are  saints,  who  have 
been  bishops  of  Amiens,  or  lived  in  the  province.  On 
left  (south),  S.  Firmin,  S.  Domice,  S.  Honore,  S.  Salve,  S. 
Quentin,  S.  Gcntien;  on  right  (north)  S.  Geoffroy,  an 
angel,  S.  Fuscien,  S.  Victoric,  an  angel,  S.  Ulpha.  In  the 
tympanum  is  represented  the  Discovery  and  Glorification  of 
the  relics  of  S.  Firmin. 

"The  other  saints  in  this  porch  are  all  in  like  manner 
provincial,  and,  as  it  v^^ere,  personal  friends  of  the  Amienois ; 
and  under  them,  the  quatrefoils  represent  the  pleasant  order 
of  the  guarded  and  hallowed  year — the  zodiacal  signs  above 
and  labours  of  the  months  below;  little  differing  from  the  con- 
stant representations  of  them,  except  in  the  May  "  (Ruskin). 

Under  the  open  arches  of  the  porches,  which  are  sur- 
mounted by  gabled  frontals,  is  delicate  lace-work  of  the 
Fourteenth  Century.  On  the  summit  of  the  principal 
frontal  S.  Michael  is  represented  conquering  the  dragon. 
The  ironwork  of  the  doors  is  Thirteenth  Century  and 
Fourteenth  Century.  Above  the  porches  is  a  gallery  cor- 
responding with  the  triforium  of  the  interior.  It  is  divided 
into  three  parts  by  the  finials  of  the  second  story  of  the 
buttresses.  This  first  gallery  is  surmounted  by  a  series  of 
arches  containing  statues  of  twentv-two  kings  of  Juda,  an- 
cestors of  the  Virgin.  Then  comes  a  magnificent  rose 
window  (Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  Centuries)  and  above  it 
the  Galerie  des  Sonneun^  uniting  the  two  towers,  and  hiding 


30  AMIENS  CATHEDRAL 

the  gable  of  the  nave.  According  to  the  original  plan, 
each  tower  was  to  have  been  surmounted  by  a  spire,  but 
this  was  given  up  in  1240. 

At  the  base  of  the  south  tower  is  the  Portal!  de  S. 
Christophe,  which  takes  its  name  from  the  colossal  statue 
which  leans  against  the  chapel  of  the  same  name,  on  the 
right  of  the  door.  The  portal  of  the  south  transept — 
Portail  de  S.  Honor'e^  or  de  la  Vierge  dor'ee^  owes  its  second 
name  to  a  colossal  statue  of  the  Virgin  mother,  gilt  at  the 
expense  of  a  private  individual  in  1705.  At  the  sides  are 
great  statues  of  angels  and  of  the  sainted  priests  of  the 
diocese,  executed  in  1258,  but  with  the  characteristics  of  an 
earlier  time.  In  the  tympanum  are  the  Discovery  of  the 
relics  of  SS.  Fuscien,  Victoric,  and  Gratien  and  their  Exal- 
tation by  S.  Honore.  In  the  centre  of  the  vault  is  a  Cruci- 
fix between  the  Virgin  and  S.  John  and  around  are  bands 
of  angels,  confessors,  martyrs,  etc.  The  rose  window  above 
presents  a  wheel  of  Fortune.  On  the  summit  of  the  gable 
is  a  statue  of  S.  Honore. 

The  Porch  of  the  North  Transept  has  a  statue  which 
represents  either  S.  Firman  the  Confessor  or  S.  Honore. 
This  side  of  the  Cathedral  is  simpler  than  the  other,  but 
is  adorned  with  beautiful  statues  of  the  founders  and  patrons 
of  the  adjoining  chapels,  or  of  the  sovereigns  in  whose 
reign  they  were  built. 

The  choir  was  originally  encircled  by  a  Fourteenth 
Century  cloister,  on  the  south  of  which  stood  the  still- 
existing  Chapelle  Macabre^  or  des  Machab'ees.,  now  occupied 
by  the  sacristy.  A  portion  of  the  cloister  on  the  north 
has  been  rebuilt  to  unite  the  Cathedral  with  the  Salle  des 
Conferences  at  the  Evech'e.  To  the  north  of  the  chevet  is 
the  Chapelle  des  Catechlsmes. 


AMIENS  CATHEDRAL  3 1 

The  interior  of  the  Cathedral  is  a  Latin  cross,  442  feet 
in  length,  and  is  composed  of  a  triple  nave  with  side-chapels, 
a  large  transept  with  side  aisles,  a  choir  with  its  ambula- 
tory, and  seven  apsidal  chapels  round  the  sanctuary. 

^'  The  mind  is  filled  and  elevated  by  the  enormous  height 
of  the  building  (140  feet),  its  lofty  and  many-coloured 
clerestory,  its  grand  proportions,  its  noble  simplicity.  The 
proportion  of  height  to  breadth  is  almost  double  that  to 
which  we  are  accustomed  in  English  cathedrals  ;  the  lofty, 
solid  piers,  which  bear  up  this  height,  are  far  more  massive 
in  their  plan  than  the  light  and  graceful  clusters  of  our  Eng- 
lish churches,  each  of  them  being  a  cylinder  with  four  en- 
gaged columns.  The  polygonal  east  apse  is  a  feature 
which  we  seldom  see,  and  nowhere  so  exhibited,  and  on 
such  a  scale;  and  the  peculiar  French  arrangement  which 
puts  the  walls  at  the  outside  edge  of  the  buttresses,  and  thus 
forms  interior  chapels  all  round,  in  addition  to  the  aisles, 
gives  a  vast  multiplicity  of  perspective  below,  which  fills 
out  the  idea  produced  by  the  gigantic  height  of  the  centre. 
Such  terms  will  not  be  considered  extravagant  when  it  is 
recollected  that  the  roof  is  half  as  high  again  as  the  roof  of 
Westminster  Abbey  "  (Whewell). 

The  height  of  this  Cathedral  is  only  surpassed  in  France 
by  that  of  Beauvais.  The  vast  arches  rise  to  nearly  half 
this  height.  Then  comes  a  beautiful  band  of  foliage,  sur- 
rounded by  the  triforium,  above  which  magnificent  win- 
dows occupy  the  whole  upper  surface  of  the  walls,  the  win- 
dows being  only  separated  by  slender  columns  rising  from 
the  larger  pillars.  Before  the  construction  of  the  lateral 
chapels  of  the  nave  in  the  Fourteenth  Century,  the  side 
aisles  also  showed  great  lines  of  windows,  which  gave  un- 
usual lightness  to  the  building.     The  greater  part  of  the 


32  AMIENS  CATHEDRAL 

Stained  glass  perished  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  and  the 
building  is,  therefore,  still  too  light.  One  hundred  and 
twenty-six  pillars  sustain  the  vaulting  of  the  nave,  transepts 
and  aisles. 

At  the  entrance  of  the  nave,  between  the  pillars,  are  the 
brass  tombs  of  the  two  great  bishops  who  were  the  princi- 
pal founders  of  the  church,  and  which  are  the  only  impor- 
tant metal  tombs  left  in  France.  On  the  right  is  £vrard 
de  Fouilloy  (1223),  on  the  left  Geoffroi  d'Eu  (1236).  In 
each,  the  reposing  figure  is  enclosed  in  a  niche,  with  a 
sloping,  pointed  arch,  supported  by  six  lions.  At  their 
feet  are  winged  dragons.  In  the  latter,  the  treatment  of 
the  hands  is  very  fine. 

Above  the  organ  loft  opens  a  noble  rose  window — la  rose 
de  77ier — with  stained  glass  symbolical  of  earth  and  air.  It 
bears  the  arms  of  Canon  Firmin  de  Coquerel,  by  whose  or- 
der it  was  made.  The  unsuitable  pulpit  is  supported  by 
figures  of  Faith,  Hope  and  Charity.  A  magnificent  rood- 
loft,  demolished  in  1755,  formerly  separated  the  nave  from 
the  choir,  which  is  now  enclosed  by  a  grille  of  wrought  iron- 
work, forged  in  the  Eighteenth  Century  by  Jean  Vivarais 
of  Corbie,  between  two  tasteless  walls  of  masonry. 

In  the  choir  we  must  remark  the  stained  windows,  of 
which  those  of  the  triforium  represent  the  Apostles  and 
Bishops,  and  those  in  the  upper  part  of  the  apse  the 
Annunciation,  the  Beheading  of  S.  Firmin,  etc.  The 
beautiful  window  at  the  end  bears  the  name  of  its  donor, 
Bishop  Bernard  of  Abbeville,  and  the  date  1269.  The 
high  altar  is  feeble,  and  is  backed  by  an  enormous  Eighteenth 
Century  glory  much  admired  in  its  time. 

But  the  great  feature  of  the  choir  is  its  hundred  and  ten 
magnificent  stalls,  executed    1508   to    1522  by   four   local 


AMIENS  CATHEDRAL  33 

artists,  one  of  whom,  Jean  Turpin,  has  signed  his  name  on 
the  eighty-sixth  stall  on  the  left. 

*'  Under  the  carver's  hand  the  wood  seems  to  cut  like  clay, 
to  fold  like  silk,  to  grow  like  living  branches,  to  leap  like 
living  flame.  Canopy  crowning  canopy,  pinnacle  piercing 
pinnacle- — it  shoots  and  wreathes  itself  into  an  enchanted 
glade,  inextricable,  imperishable,  fuller  of  leafage  than  any 
forest  and  fuller  of  story  than  any  book"  (Ruskin). 

The  exterior  of  the  wall  enclosing  the  choir  is  covered 
with  rich  Flamboyant  arches,  containing  groups  of  stone 
figures,  painted  and  gilt,  which  have  been  restored  from  the 
mutilations  of  the  Revolution.  The  eight  compartments 
on  the  left,  executed  in  1531  at  the  expense  of  the  noble 
families  of  Coquerel  and  Louvencourt,  relate  to  the  history 
of  John  the  Baptist. 

"  First  S.  John  is  represented  when  he  sees  Christ  and 
points  Him  out  to  the  astonished  multitude ;  then  S.  John 
preaching  in  the  wilderness,  and  the  Baptism  of  Christ, 
which  is  arranged  with  peculiar  beauty  and  simplicity ; 
lastly  S.  John  again  as  a  preacher  of  repentance,  when  the 
listening  multitude  is  depicted  with  life.  The  second 
(eastern)  division  again  comprises  four  scenes  ;  the  Appre- 
hension of  S.  John  ;  the  Banquet,  at  which  Herodias  asks 
for  the  head  of  the  Preacher  of  Repentance — a  scene  exe- 
cuted in  genre-like  style,  the  figures  appearing  in  the  cos- 
tume of  the  period  j  the  Beheading  of  S.  John  ;  and,  lastly, 
another  Banquet  scene,  in  which  the  severed  head  appears 
on  the  table,  and  Herodias  puts  out  the  eyes,  at  which  her 
daughter  sinks  in  a  swoon,  and  is  caught  up  by  a  young 
man,  whilst  a  page,  in  horror,  runs  away  with  the  dish. 
Below  these  larger  representations,  in  the  one  case  in  ten, 
in  the  other  in  five  medallions,  scenes  from  the  youth,  and 


34  AMIENS  CATHEDRAL 

miracles  from  the  legends  of  S.  John  are  depicted.  The 
relief  is  more  shallow,  and,  with  its  simple  arrangement,  is 
very  attractive  in  expression;  here  also  everything  is 
coloured  "  (Liibke). 

The  sculptures  on  the  right  wall  of  the  choir,  relating  to 
the  stories  of  S.  Firmin  and  S.  Saulve,  are  even  more  beauti- 
ful and  curious.  Below  them  are  the  tombs,  with  statues  of 
Bishop  Ferry  de  Beauvoir  (1472)  and  his  nephew  Dean 
Adrien  de  Henencourt  (1530),  at  whose  expense  these 
sculptures  were  executed.  Against  the  pillar  which  is 
touched  by  the  grille  of  the  choir,  is  the  little  monument  of 
Charles  de  Vitry  Seigneur  des  Auteux  (1679). 

Behind  the  sanctuary  and  facing  the  Chapel  of  the  Virgin, 
is  the  tomb  of  Canon  Guillain  Lucas,  founder  of  an  or- 
phanage, 1628,  by  Blasset  of  Amiens  :  the  statuette  of  the 
Enfant  pleureur  has  a  great  local  celebrity.  In  a  lower 
arch  reposes  the  marble  statue  of  Cardinal  Lagrange,  Bishop 
of  Amiens  and  minister  of  Charles  V.,  1402.  The  pre- 
dominating colour  in  the  great  rose  windows  of  the  transept 
has  given  them  the  names  of  Fire  and  Water.  In  the 
south  transept,  near  the  last  pillar  of  the  nave,  is  the  grave- 
stone of  the  Spanish  Captain  Hernando  Teillo,  by  whom 
Amiens  was  taken  in  1597.  Opposite  is  the  stone 
sarcophagus  of  Canon  Claude  Pierre.  Facing  the  Chapelle 
de  Notre  Dame  de  Puy,  the  wall  of  the  transept  is  covered 
with  marble  tables  relating  to  the  establishment  of  the  con- 
fraternity of  that  name.  These  tables  are  surmounted  by 
marble  reliefs  relating  to  the  Life  of  the  Virgin.  Above, 
in  an  intricate  Flamboyant  framework,  are  four  scenes  from 
the  life  of  S.  James  the  Great,  very  rich  but  overcrowded, 
executed  at  the  beginning  of  the  Sixteenth  Century  at  the 
expense  of  Canon  Guillaume  Aucouteaux. 


AMIENS  CATHEDRAL  35 

In  the  left,  or  north,  transept  is  the  monument  of  Canon 
Jehan  Wyts,  1523,  with  scenes  illustrating  the  four  divi- 
sions of  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  :  the  Atrium  (the  Expul- 
sion from  the  Temple),  Tabernaculum  Sanctum  and  Sanctum 
Sanctorum.  Beneath  the  second  pillar  of  this  transept  is 
the  tomb  of  Gresset,  a  comic  poet  of  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury. Near  this  are  the  white  marble  tomb  of  Cardinal 
Hemart,  1543,  and  the  font  of  the  Twelfth  Century,  for- 
merly used  for  immersion. 

Opposite,  is  a  shrine  for  the  so-called  head  of  John  the 
Baptist,  brought  from  Constantinople,  and  given  to  the 
Cathedral  by  Wallon  de  Sarton,  Canon  of  Picquigny,  at  the 
time  of  the  Crusades  :  the  same  relic  is  to  be  seen  in  several 
other  churches  of  France  and  in  the  Cathedral  of  Genoa. 

In  the  left  aisle  of  the  nave  is  the  tomb  of  Jean  Desachy 
and  his  wife,  Marie  de  Revelois.  The  third  chapel  of  this 
aisle  (of  S.  Saulve)  contains  a  very  handsome  crucifix, 
revered  as  having  bent  its  head  to  salute  the  relics  of  S. 
Honore :  the  second  {Notre  Dame  de  la  Paix)  has  a  statue 
of  the  Virgin  by  Blasset. 

The  architecture  of  the  seven  apsidal  chapels  greatly  re- 
sembles that  of  the  Sainte  Chapelle  at  Paris.  The  Chapelle 
S.  Eloi^  which  has  preserved  its  ancient  glass  representing 
the  life  of  the  patron,  contains  the  tomb  of  the  learned  Canon 
Lamorliere,  1639. 


OXFORD   CATHEDRAL 

FRANCIS  BOND 

*'  \  BOUT  the  year  of  our  Lord  727,  there  lived  at  Ox- 
X~\.  ford  a  Saxon  prince  named  Didan,  who  had  an  only 
child  Frideswide  (bond  of  peace).  Seeing  that  he  had  large 
possessions  and  inheritances,  and  that  she  was  likely  to  en- 
joy most  of  them  after  his  decease,  Frideswide  told  her 
father  that  he  could  not  do  better  than  bestow  them  upon 
some  religious  fabric  where  she  and  her  spiritual  sisters 
might  spend  their  days  in  prayer  and  in  singing  psalms  and 
hymns  to  God.  Wherefore  the  good  old  man  built  a 
church,  and  committed  it  wholly  to  the  use  of  his  daughter, 
purposely  to  exercise  her  devotion  therein  ;  and  other  edi- 
fices adjoining  to  the  church,  to  serve  as  lodging-rooms  for 
Frideswide  and  twelve  virgins  of  noble  extraction.  There 
she  became  famous  for  her  piety  and  for  those  excellent 
parts  that  nature  had  endowed  her  withal;  and  Algar, 
King  of  Leicester,  became  her  adorer  by  way  of  marriage. 
Finding  that  he  could  not  prevail  with  her  by  all  the  entreat- 
ies and  gifts  imaginable,  he  departed  home  but  sent  to  her 
ambassadors  with  this  special  and  sovereign  caution,  that  if 
she  did  not  concede,  to  watch  their  opportunity  and  carry 
her  away  by  force.  Frideswide  was  inexorable.  Where- 
fore at  the  dawning  of  the  day  the  ambassadors  clambered 
the  fences  of  the  house,  and  by  degrees  approaching  her 
private  lodging,  promised  to  themselves  nothing  but  surety 
of  their  prize.     But  she,  awakening  suddenly  and  discover- 


OXFORD  CATHEDRAL  37 

ing  them,  and  finding  it  vain  to  make  an  escape,  being  so 
closely  besieged,  fervently  prayed  to  the  Almighty  that  He 
would  preserve  her  from  the  violence  of  those  wicked  per- 
sons, and  that  He  would  show  some  special  token  of  re- 
venge upon  them  for  this  their  bold  attempt.  Wherefore 
the  ambassadors  were  miraculously  struck  blind,  and  like 
madmen  ran  headlong  yelling  about  the  city.  But  Algar 
was  filled  with  rage,  and  intended  for  Oxford,  breathing  out 
nothing  but  fire  and  sword.  Which  thing  being  told  to 
Frideswide  in  a  dream,  with  her  sisters  the  nuns  Katherine 
and  Cicely,  she  fled  to  the  riverside,  where  there  awaited 
her  a  young  man  with  a  beautiful  countenance  and  clothed 
in  white,  who,  mitigating  their  fear  with  pleasant  speech, 
rowed  them  up  the  river  to  a  wood  ten  miles  distant.  There 
the  nuns  sheltered  in  a  hut,  which  ivy  and  other  sprouts 
quickly  overgrew,  hiding  them  from  sight  of  man.  Three 
years  Frideswide  lived  in  Benton  wood,  when  she  came 
back  to  Binsey  and  afterwards  to  Oxford,  in  which  place 
this  maiden,  having  gained  the  triumph  of  her  virginity, 
worked  many  miracles  ;  and  when  her  days  were  over  and 
her  Spouse  called  her,  she  there  died."  Such  is  the  account 
of  her  which  Anthony-a-Wood  drew  from  William  of 
Malmsbury  and  Prior  Philip  of  Oxford,  both  of  whom  un- 
fortunately lived  long  after  the  events  which  they  narrate. 
I.  In  the  east  walls  of  the  north  choir-aisle  and  the 
Lady  Chapel  three  small  rude  arches  have  recently  been 
found,  and  outside,  in  the  gardens,  the  foundations  of  the 
walls  of  three  apses.  Hence  it  has  been  concluded  that  we 
have  here  the  eastern  termination  of  Frideswide's  Eighth 
Century  church.  It  may  be  so,  but  the  central  arch  seems 
very  small  for  the  chancel-arch  of  an  aisled  church.  It  is 
indeed   a  foot   wider  than   the  chancel-arch  of  the  Saxon 


38  OXFORD  CATHEDRAL 

church  at  Bradford-on-Avon,  but  that  tiny  church  has  no 
aisles.  Moreover,  if  the  side-arches  led  into  aisles,  they 
would  be  likely  to  be  of  the  same  height,  whereas  the 
southern  arch  is  considerably  the  higher  of  the  two. 

II.  At  some  later  period — perhaps  in  the  Eighth  or 
Ninth  Century — the  foundation  was  converted  into  one  of 
secular  canons,  married  priests  taking  the  place  of  nuns 
(cf.  Ely).  The  secular  canons  themselves  in  turn  gave  way 
to  monks,  and  these  in  11 11  to  regular  canons,  /.  ^.,  canons 
living  in  monastic  fashion  under  the  rule  (regula)  of  St. 
Augustine,  as  at  Bristol,  Ripon  and  Carlisle. 

The  first  business  of  the  secular  canons  was  to  house 
themselves — /'.  e.,  to  build  themselves  the  usual  cloister, 
with  its  appanages  of  chapter-house,  refectory,  dormitory, 
etc.  Of  the  chapter-house  which  they  built,  c.  11 25,  the 
doorway  still  remains. 

In  1004  King  Ethelred  had  rebuilt  the  Saxon  church  ; 
and  probably  it  was  found  possible  to  put  this  church  into 
such  repair  as  would  allow  the  services  to  be  held  in  it  for 
the  time  being.  At  any  rate,  it  was  not  till  1158  that  they 
commenced  the  present  Cathedral,  which  they  finished  in 
1 180,  leaving  not  a  stone  standing  of  Ethelred's  Cathedral. 
Of  the  theory  that  the  present  Cathedral  is  in  the  main  the 
one  built  in  1004,  I  would  prefer  to  say  nothing  had  it  not 
been  adopted  in  a  recent  history  of  the  Cathedral ;  suffice  to 
say  that,  like  the  sister  theory  that  Waltham  Abbey  was 
built  in  1060,  it  is  an  absolute  impossibility.  The  hands  of 
the  archaeological  clock  cannot  be  turned  160  years  back  in 
this  preposterous  fashion. 

The  Twelfth  Century  church  was  very  remarkable  in 
plan.  Not  only  had  it  an  aisled  nave  and  an  aisled  choir, 
but  it  had  the  architectural  luxury  unparalleled  in  our  Nor- 


OXFORD  CATHEDRAL  39 

man  architecture  except  in  the  vast  churches  of  Winchester 
and  Ely,  of  eastern  and  western  aisles  to  its  transepts.  The 
site,  however,  was  cramped  to  the  south,  and  so  the  southern 
transept  was  shorter  than  the  northern  one ;  moreover,  this 
short  transept  later  on  lost  its  west  aisle,  which  was  lopped 
off  to  allow  the  cloister  to  be  extended.  For  the  same 
reason — lack  of  room — the  slype,  or  vaulted  passage,  which 
in  all  monastic  institutions  connected  the  cloister  with  the 
cemetery,  instead  of  being  built  between  the  transept  and 
the  cloister,  was  built  inside  the  church,  as  at  Hexham, 
curtailing  still  further  the  floor  area  of  the  north  transept. 
It  was  therefore  because  the  church  was  so  cramped  to  the 
south,  that  the  other  transept  was  given  aisles  on  both 
sides.  Instead  of  an  eastern  aisle,  the  south  transept  had 
merely  a  square  chapel  projecting  eastward. 

But  the  canons  wanted  also  a  Lady  Chapel,  for  the  church 
seems  to  have  been  dedicated  originally  to  the  Holy  Trinity, 
St.  Mary  and  St.  Frideswide.  The  normal  position  of  a 
Lady  Chapel  was  to  the  east  of  the  sanctuary.  But  here 
also  the  canons  were  cramped ;  for  quite  close  to  the  east 
end  of  the  church  ran  the  city  wall.  To  get  in  a  Lady 
Chapel,  therefore,  they  had  to  build  an  additional  aisle  north 
of  the  north  aisle  of  the  choir.  This  was  three  bays  long. 
It  was  probably  walled  ofF  from  the  transept,  but  opened 
into  the  north  choir-aisle  by  three  Norman  arches,  recon- 
structed later  on.  The  same  arrangement  is  found  at 
Ripon.  There  was  also  a  short  chapel  projecting  east- 
ward from  the  northernmost  bay  of  the  east  aisle  of  the 
north  transept. 

The  east  end,  as  at  Rochester  and  Ripon,  was  square. 
The  present  east  end  is  a  fine  composition  by  Scott,  more 
or  less  conjectural.     The  work  commenced,  as  usual,  at 


40  OXFORD  CATHEDRAL 

the  east,  as  is  shown  by  the  gradual  improvement  westward 
in  the  design  of  the  capitals.  The  evidence  of  the  vault- 
ing, too,  points  in  the  same  direction.  In  the  choir-aisle 
the  ribs  are  massive  and  heavy;  in  the  western  aisle  of  the 
north  transept  they  are  lighter;  in  the  south  aisle  of  the 
nave  they  are  pointed  and  filleted. 

The  transepts  are  narrower  than  the  nave  and  choir; 
the  tower,  therefore,  is  oblong,  and,  as  at  Bolton  Priory,  Its 
narrow  sides  have  pointed  arches  :  semicircular  arches  would 
have  been  too  low.  The  faces  of  the  piers  of  the  towers 
are  flat,  because  the  stalls  of  the  canons  were  placed  against 
them  and  in  the  eastern  bays  of  the  nave  leaving  the  whole 
eastern  limb  as  sanctuary. 

The  clerestory  walls  are  only  forty-one  and  a  half  feet 
high ;  therefore,  to  have  adopted  the  usual  Norman  design 
— viz.,  triforium  on  the  top  of  pier-arcade — would  have 
made  the  interior  look  very  squat;  so,  instead  of  building 
the  triforium  above  the  pier-arcade,  it  was  built  beneath  it. 
The  lofty  pier-arches,  thus  gained,  add  greatly  to  the  ap- 
parent height  and  dignity  of  the  interior.  The  lowei 
arches,  however,  which  carry  the  vault  of  the  aisle  behind, 
are  corbelled  into  the  piers  in  very  clumsy  fashion.  The 
design  is  not  original;  it  was  worked  out  at  Romsey  in 
a  single  bay  of  the  nave,  but,  being  thought  ugly,  was 
promptly  abandoned.  It  is  worked  out  more  successfully 
in  Dunstable  Priory  church  and  Jedburgh  Abbey.  The 
clerestory  windows  of  the  nave  would  be  built  not  much 
before  1180;  naturally,  therefore,  they  are  pointed.  The 
capitals  of  all  the  Twelfth  Century  work  are  full  of  inter- 
est. Indeed,  Transitional  capitals — each  an  experiment  and 
all  differing — partly  conventional,  partly  naturalistic,  with 
a  dash  of  Classic — are  to  me  much  more  interesting  than 


OXFORD  CATHEDRAL  4I 

any  of  the  Gothic  capitals,  except  perhaps  the  naturalistic 
capitals  of  the  later  Geometrical  period.  There  is  a  great 
sameness  about  the  foliated  capitals  of  the  Early  English 
Curvilinear  and  Perpendicular  periods.  I  need  hardly  say 
that  no  one  of  these  capitals  came  from  Ethelred's  church. 

The  whole  church  is  exceedingly  interesting.  It  fills  a 
niche  in  the  history  of  English  architecture  all  by  itself.  It 
is  not  the  early  and  rude  Transitional  work  of  the  Cis- 
tercians. On  the  other  hand  it  has  not  yet  the  lightness  and 
grace  of  Ripon  ;  still  less  the  charm  of  Canterbury  choir, 
Chichester  presbytery,  Wells  and  Abbey  Dore — Gothic  in 
all  but  name.  In  spite  of  a  pointed  arch  here  and  there,  it 
is  a  Romanesque  design ;  yet  not  so  Romanesque  as  Foun- 
tains, Kirkstall,  Furness. 

III.  In  the  Lancet  period  (iigo-1245)  the  works  went 
on  apace.  An  upper  stage  was  added  to  the  tower,  and  on 
that  the  spire  was  built — the  first  large  stone  spire  in  Eng- 
land. It  is  a  Broach  spire :  /'.  ^.,  the  cardinal  sides  of  the 
spire  are  built  right  out  to  the  eaves,  so  that  there  is  no 
parapet.  On  the  other  hand,  instead  of  having  broaches  at 
the  angle,  it  has  pinnacles.  Moreover,  to  bring  down  the 
thrusts  more  vertically  heavy  dormer  windows  are  inserted 
at  the  foot  of  each  of  the  cardinal  sides  of  the  spire  :  alto- 
gether a  very  logical  and  scientific  piece  of  engineering, 
much  more  common  in  the  early  spires  of  Northern  France 
than  in  England. 

The  chapter-house  also  was  rebuilt  [c.  1240);  rectan- 
gular, to  fit  the  cloister.  Also,  the  canons  rebuilt  both  the 
Lady  Chapel  and  the  adjoining  transeptal  chapel.  Lancet- 
work  will  be  seen  in  all  the  piers  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Lady  Chapel  and  in  the  second  and  third  piers  from  the 
west,  on   its   north  side.     The   cult  of  the  Virgin,  much 


42  OXFORD  CATHEDRAL 

fostered  by  the  Pope,  Innocent  III.,  was  at  its  height  in  the 
Thirteenth  Century.  The  Lady  Chapels  of  Bristol,  Here- 
ford, Salisbury,  Winchejier  and  Norwich  were  contempo- 
raries of  that  of  Oxford. 

IV.  To  the  latter  half  ot  the  Geometrical  period  belong 
the  fragments  of  the  pedestal  of  St.  Frideswide's  shrine, 
which  has  beautiful  naturalistic  foliage  like  that  of  the  con- 
temporary pedestal  of  St.  Thomas  of  Hereford  a.  d.  1289. 
Some  twenty  years  later  is  the  fine  canopied  tomb  of  Prior 
Sutton. 

V.  In  the  Curvilinear  period  (1315-1360)  the  eastern 
chapel  of  the  south  transept  was  pulled  down,  and  in  its 
place  was  built  a  chapel  of  four  bays,  with  four  side  win- 
dows of  singularly  beautiful  tracery,  and  all  different.  They 
contain  Fourteenth  Century  glass,  which  should  be  com- 
pared with  that  in  St.  Lucy's  Chapel  and  in  Merton  College 
Chapel.  The  bosses  are  very  beautiful :  one  of  them  has  a 
representation  of  the  water-lilies  of  the  adjacent  Cherwell. 
Hard  by  is  the  tomb  of  Lady  Montacute,  who  gave  the 
canons  about  half  the  Christ  Church  meadows  to  found  a 
chantry.  Her  chantry  goes  by  various  names :  St.  Katha- 
rine's Chapel,  the  Latin  Chapel,  and  the  Divinity  Chapel. 
It  contains  good  poppy  heads  of  Cardinal  Wolsey's  time. 

About  the  same  time  the  eastern  chapel  of  the  south 
transept — St.  Lucy's  Chapel — was  enlarged.  The  tracery 
of  its  east  window  starts  in  an  unusual  fashion  below  the 
spring  of  the  arch.  Also  the  Norman  windows  were  re- 
placed here  and  there  by  large  windows  with  flowing 
tracery,  to  improve  the  lighting  of  the  church. 

VI.  There  is  little  to  show  for  the  long  Perpendicular 
period  (i 360-1485),  except  the  insertion  of  a  few  large 
Perpendicular    windows,    and    the    so-called    "Watching- 


OXFORD  CATHEDRAL  43 

chamber,"  the  lower  part  of  which  is  the  tomb  of  a  mer- 
chant and  his  wife,  the  upper  part,  probably,  the  chantry 
belonging  to  it,  c.  1480. 

VII.  In  the  Tudor  period,  however,  the  canons  were 
exceedingly  busy.  They  set  to  work  to  make  the  whole 
church  fireproof  by  covering  choir,  transepts,  and  nave  with 
stone  vaults.  The  choir  vault  is  rather  overdone  with  pret- 
tinesses.  It  is  a  copy — and  an  inferior  one — of  the  massive 
vault  of  the  Divinity  School,  which  was  completed  c.  1478. 
Canon  Zouch,  who  died  in  1503,  left  money  to  proceed 
with  the  vault  of  the  north  transept,  beneath  which  is  his 
tomb.  Only  a  small  portion  of  this  was  completed.  In 
the  clerestory  of  the  nave  also  corbels  were  inserted  to 
support  a  stone  vault ;  but  the  resources  of  the  canons 
seem  to  have  failed,  and  the  rest  of  the  church  received 
roofs  of  wood.  Another  considerable  work  was  the  re- 
building of  the  cloisters. 

VIII.  Finally  the  whole  establishment  was  granted  in 
1524  to  Cardinal  Wolsey,  who  pulled  down  the  three 
western  bays  of  the  nave,  as  obstructing  his  new  quadrangle  : 
one  bay  has  been  recently  rebuilt. 

IX.  In  1542  Henry  VIII.  founded  the  new  diocese  of 
Oxford.  Till  1546  the  seat  of  the  bishopric  was  at  Osney 
Abbey,  On  the  suppression  of  the  abbey  it  was  transferred 
to  Wolsey's  confiscated  foundation ;  and  the  ancient  Priory 
church  became  a  cathedral,  while  at  the  same  time  it  is  the 
chapel  of  the  college  of  Christ  Church.  There  is  an  inter- 
esting contemporary  window  in  the  south  choir  aisle,  show- 
ing the  first  bishop  of  Oxford,  King,  with  Osney  Abbey  on 
one  side.  The  "  merry  Christ  Church  bells  "  came  from 
the  tower  shown  in  this  window. 

X.  At  the  entrance  to  the  Great  Hall  is  the  last  bit  of 


44  OXFORD  CATHEDRAL 

good   Gothic  done  in   England,  a  sort  of  chapter-house  in 
fan-tracery. 

XI.  The  Cathedral  possesses  a  charming  Jacobean  pul- 
pit, and  a  large  amount  of  fine  Flemish  glass  of  the  Seven- 
teenth Century — all  of  it  taken  out  and  stowed  away  in 
some  lumber-room  at  a  recent  restoration,  except  one  win- 
dow at  the  west  end  of  the  north  aisle  of  the  nave,  in  order 
to  insert  some  sham  mediaeval  windows. 

XII.  There  are  also  five  windows  from  designs  by  Sir 
Edward  Burne-Jones — three  of  them  of  great  beauty  j  good 
windows  by  Clayton  and  Bell  in  the  end  walls  of  the  tran- 
septs;  and  a  charming  reredos  by  Mr.  Bodley,  who  also  has 
the  credit  of  the  bell  tower. 


BOURGES  CATHEDRAL 

ARTHUR  SYMONDS 

IN  Bourges,  a  little  white  town  of  turning  streets,  heavy 
with  quiet,  set  in  the  midst  of  broad  and  fertile  plains, 
everything  is  old,  subdued,  placidly  and  venerably  provincial. 
It  has  the  settled  repose  of  an  old  cathedral  city  ;  streets 
without  noise,  windows  open  against  the  light,  everywhere 
little  open  squares,  little  formal  gardens,  over  which  the 
tree-tops  almost  meet,  with  just  a  parting  of  blue  sky  above 
green  alleys.  The  Cathedral  is  set  in  its  midst,  on  a  hill  to 
which  all  ways  climb.  Seen  from  a  distance  it  is  formida- 
ble, and  seems  to  brood  over  the  town  as  if  weighing  upon  it 
like  an  oddly-shaped  rock  or  mountain.  Seen  from  near,  it 
imposes  by  its  immense  breadth,  raised  higher  than  the 
ground  before  it  by  a  broad  flight  of  low  steps.  There  are 
five  doorways,  three  of  the  Thirteenth  Century,  and  two 
towers,  of  unequal  height,  in  one  of  which  one  sees  the 
plain,  wholly  structural  building  of  the  Fourteenth  Century, 
and  in  the  other,  which  first  attracts  the  eye,  the  more  ob- 
trusive decoration,  all  in  spikes  and  spires,  and  the  weaker 
structure  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.  The  window  under 
the  rose  of  slender  veined  stone-work  has  been  walled  up ; 
most  of  the  full-length  statues  which  once  stood  around  the 
doorways  are  gone,  and  the  six  that  remain  on  one  side  of 
the  central  doorway  are  all  headless.  The  facade  has 
neither  the  harmony  nor  the  luxurious  detail  of  Amiens  ;  but, 
especially  when  seen  at  night,  with  the  after  sunset  light 


46  BOURGES  CATHEDRAL 

upon  It,  or  stretched  upon  the  sky  of  moonlight  the  win- 
dows blackened  and  the  grey  stone  turned  white,  the 
breadth  of  it  becomes  enormous,  fills  the  sky,  and  what  is 
plainly  unimaginative,  merely  adequate  and  explicit  In  the 
sides  and  buttresses,  becomes  delicate,  becomes  living,  under 
that  softening  of  light.  Seen  from  the  terrace  of  the  Arch- 
bishop's garden,  at  the  back,  one  distinguishes  the  fine, 
original  symmetry  of  the  choir,  with  its  three-fold  curve, 
each  curve  as  it  rises  a  story,  tightened  more  closely  about 
the  building.  And,  as  you  walk  round,  you  see  the  two 
great  side  doorways,  with  their  rigid  almost  Assyrian  sculp- 
ture, with  winged  bulls  and  formal  squares  and  patterns 
woven  and  plaited  in  the  stone. 

The  sculpture  of  the  facade  is  not  for  the  most  part  so 
fine  or  so  naively  harmonious  as  at  Amiens,  but  the 
tympanum  of  the  central  doorway  contains  a  Last  Judg- 
ment, which  is  full  of  grotesque  vigour.  Startled  folk  rise 
up  naked  and  with  a  sudden  sense  of  shame,  out  of 
their  tombs,  pushing  up  the  stone  lids  of  their  coffins, 
and  stepping  out  eagerly  with  stiff  unaccustomed  limbs  : 
they  turn  towards  heaven  or  hell,  which  are  represented 
above  by  angels  who  receive  the  saints,  clothed,  into  the 
gate  of  heaven,  while  triumphing  devils  thrust  the  sinners, 
naked,  along  the  road  to  the  bottomless  pit.  One  devil  has 
a  second  face  in  his  stomach,  like  the  monsters  of  the 
Cologne  school  of  painters  ;  another  has  a  tail  which  ends 
in  a  dog's  head,  reaching  forward  through  his  legs  and  bit- 
ing the  legs  of  a  man  in  front.  Devils  with  faces  full  of 
horrible  mirth  lift  up  men  and  women  on  their  shoulders 
and  stamp  them  down  into  a  boiling  cauldron  ;  you  see  the 
flames  underneath,  and  two  devils  blowing  the  bellows. 
Two  toads  climb  up  outside  the  cauldron ;  one  is  in  the  act 


BOURGES  CATHEDRAL  47 

of  crawling  into  the  mouth  of  a  man,  while  the  other  sucks 
at  the  breast  of  a  woman.  There  is  a  kind  of  cheerful 
horror  in  all  these  figures  in  pain ;  they  are  rendered  calmly, 
without  emotion,  without  pity.  They  and  the  saints  have 
the  same  quite  credible  existence  j  they  are  carved  there 
as  if  by  act  of  faith,  and  are  not  so  poignantly  human  as 
to  trouble  the  living  more  than  a  text  of  the  Bible,  read  out 
in  Latin. 

The  sculpture  of  the  Middle  Ages  is  a  kind  of  negation ; 
it  is  the  art  of  the  body  practised  by  artists  who  hold  the 
body  in  contempt,  and  it  aims  at  rendering  the  soul  with- 
out doing  honour  to  the  body.  These  sculptors,  with  their 
imperfect  command  of  the  only  means  by  which  the  soul 
can  be  made  visible,  may  seem  to  become  only  more  exte- 
rior as  they  strain  after  a  more  ascetic  ideal.  At  Bourges 
there  is  less  than  at  Amiens  of  that  fine  homely  feeling  for 
character  in  faces ;  the  body  counts  for  more  and  the  body 
is  ashamed  of  nakedness  and  uncomely  without  a  covering. 

Outside,  the  Cathedral  impresses  by  its  mass,  its  breadth, 
the  immense  emphasis  of  its  five  doorways  set  side  by  side, 
the  almost  eastern  strangeness  of  those  two  other  doorways, 
in  which  some  of  the  figures  are  taken  from  an  older 
church  of  the  Eleventh  Century.  It  has  weight,  solem- 
nity, with  something  incalculable  in  its  separate  effects, 
though  with  none  of  the  daintiness  of  Amiens.  But  in- 
side, all  that  is  exquisite  becomes  at  once  visible.  Unity, 
ease,  sequence,  elegance,  are  the  qualities  of  this  naked  in- 
terior, in  which  the  long  and  naked  alleys  have  the  har- 
monious beauty  of  abstract  line.  From  the  western  door 
one  looks  uninterruptedly  through  the  church  to  the  win- 
dows behind  the  choir;  the  choir  is  no  more  than  a  little 
space   as   if  temporarily   railed   off  from  the  nave  •,  and  on 


48  BOURGES  CATHEDRAL 

each  side  a  row  of  slender,  wholly  undecorated  pillars 
drapes  the  nave  as  if  with  long  straight  hangings,  A 
double  line  of  aisles  follows  the  whole  length  of  the  church, 
curving  delicately  around  the  choir;  the  lines  dwindle, 
curve,  disappear,  almost  mysteriously.  Their  evasiveness 
is  like  a  last,  less  definite  suggestion,  completing  what  is 
frank  and  precise  in  the  bare  elegance  of  the  structure. 
The  aisles  surround  the  church  like  arcades ;  the  lower  in- 
ner one,  which  remains  always  dim,  while  the  nave  and  the 
outer  aisles  are  open  to  travelling  rays  of  light,  has  a  touch 
of  mystery  entirely  absent  from  the  daylight  church  of 
Amiens.  The  stone  tracery  of  the  windows  is  unusually 
fine  and  elaborate ;  the  rose  window,  seen  from  the  east,  is 
pale,  like  a  star  appearing  at  the  end  of  an  alley  of  trees. 
Here,  windows  are  an  accessory,  and  not,  as  in  Amiens,  a 
part  of  the  structure,  which  has  been  thought  out  in  stone, 
and  exists  with  an  incomparable  simplicity. 

And  yet  the  windows  at  Bourges  are  the  finest  windows 
in  France.  This  Thirteenth  Century  glass  has  at  once 
grandeur  and  subtlety ;  it  glows  like  a  flower-garden  in 
which  all  the  flowers  are  jewels,  and  it  is  set  in  patterns  of 
wheels  and  trefoils,  and  circles,  and  in  patterns  made  up  of 
the  mingling  of  many  shapes.  Even  from  outside,  when 
the  sun  touches  them,  the  windows  begin  to  glow  between 
their  leads  and  lines  of  stone.  There  are  windows  like 
tapestries,  windows  that  are  curtains  against  the  world, 
windows  as  if  the  wall  had  opened  suddenly  upon  some 
paradise.  Beyond  the  choir  the  naked  greyness  of  the  wall 
flames  into  fiery  purple,  into  sombre  reds,  into  a  royal  pomp 
of  blue  and  crimson.  The  oldest  of  the  windows  are  in 
fixed  shapes,  into  which  little  naive  pictures  are  framed, 
each  separate  in  design,  combined  into  patterns  by  the  leads 


BOURGES  CATHEDRAL  49 

which  divide  them  into  masses  of  simple  colour.  In  other 
windows  the  design  is  allowed  to  flow,  after  its  own  pat- 
tern, like  that  of  a  picture;  and  with  what  admirable  sense 
of  design,  with  what  subtleties  of  colour !  Certainly  the 
glass-workers  who  made  these  windows  were  finer  artists 
than  the  workers  in  stone  who  made  even  the  most  vivid 
of  the  exterior  sculptures.  And  their  work  lives,  with  a 
renewed  life,  and  in  all  its  freshness,  day  by  day.  At  early 
morning,  when  the  facade  is  not  warmed  and  the  rose  win- 
dow fades  like  a  flower,  the  windows  about  the  choir  re- 
awaken. All  that  was  sombre  in  them  has  gone,  or  re- 
mains only  to  brighten  their  exaltation.  Underneath, 
priests  say  mass,  and  the  people  turn  up  their  faces  as  if  to 
worship  the  sun  coming  out  of  the  east. 


ST.  PETER'S,  ROME 

FRANCIS    WEY 

AT  the  exit  of  the  Piazza  Rusticucci,  at  the  moment 
when,  facing  the  dome,  you  proceed  to  make  your 
way  into  the  round  of  Doric  columns  which  mark  the  el- 
lipsoid outline  of  an  immense  space;  you  are  struck  with 
the  apparent  unity  of  so  vast  a  construction,  commenced  in 
1450  and  continued  over  two  centuries  and  a  half.  The 
more  we  look  at  these  erections,  the  more  astonished  we 
are,  as  we  recall  the  names  of  Bramante,  of  the  two  San 
Gallo,  of  Raphael,  of  Peruzzi,  of  Michelangelo,  and  of 
Vignola,  the  principal  masters  of  the  first  century  of  the 
construction.  The  circular  colonnade  of  Bernini,  nearly 
three  hundred  columns,  set  in  four  rows,  and  leaving  be- 
tween them  a  central  passage  for  carriages, — this  enormous 
phantasy  is  the  manifesto  of  a  style  which  subordinates 
utility  to  symmetry  and  rules  to  decorative  effect :  these 
284  columns,  which  are  strong  enough  to  support  the  pal- 
aces of  Semiramis,  support  nothing  at  all;  they  are  placed 
there  for  show  ;  they  are  the  feet  of  two  banqueting-tables 
set  for  a  congress  of  giants,  on  which  are  drawn  up  in  a 
row  ninety-six  statues  of  between  three  and  four  metres, 
which  from  a  distance  cannot  be  distinguished  and  which 
you  do  not  see  any  better  when  you  are  near.  For  that 
matter,  no  one  looks  at  them;  and  such  is  the  fate  of 
works  of  art  that  are  wasted  out  of  place. 

We  cannot  deny  that  this  colonnade,  connecting  itself 


ST.   PETER'S,  ROME  5  I 

with  the  piazza  by  two  curves  of  such  amplitude,  is  an  im- 
posing conception.  The  basilica  of  St.  Peter,  for  the  glo- 
rification of  which  this  immense  device  has  been  contrived, 
declares  itself  in  the  skies  by  a  great  hemispheric  dome, 
flanked  by  two  smaller  domes ;  these  cupolas,  particularly 
that  of  the  centre,  whose  curve,  attributed  to  Michelangelo, 
was  rectified  by  Giacomo  della  Porta,  would  have  gained 
by  rising  in  rectilinear  construction.  The  conflict  of  the 
horizontal  and  vertical  arcs  of  a  circle  is  not  happy,  and 
the  proof  is  that  from  the  points  of  view  at  which  the 
dome  of  St.  Peter  has  not  the  round  of  Bernini  for  a  fore- 
ground, it  rises  with  a  much  superior  effect.  Those  who 
paved  the  piazza  seem  to  have  understood  this :  from  the 
foot  of  the  obelisk  that  rises  in  the  centre,  they  made  a 
series  of  radii  in  white  stone  diverge,  which,  by  giving 
more  firmness  to  the  surface,  lead  the  eye  by  direct  lines  to 
the  four-and-twenty  steps  of  the  church.  Two  sparkling 
fountains  adorn  the  semicircles  of  this  vast  arena,  accom- 
panying the  obelisk — and  that  is  why  the  obelisk  of  the 
Place  de  la  Concorde  at  Paris  is  supported  by  a  couple  of 
fountains. 

The  facade  is  not  a  success,  as  everybody  has  remarked  ; 
it  masks  the  dome,  its  pediment  is  abortive,  its  attica  ill  ac- 
cented by  a  row  of  small,  low  and  misshapen  windows;  its 
top  is  ridiculously  equipped  by  the  thirteen  colossal  figures 
of  Christ  and  the  Apostles  gesticulating  on  the  balustrade. 
Under  the  frieze,  with  the  inscription  of  Pope  Borghese 
(Paul  v.),  is  placed  the  central  balcony,  whence  the  sov- 
ereign pontiff  blesses  the  city  and  the  universe.  The  win- 
dow, its  four  neighbours,  as  well  as  the  five  doors  whose 
entablature  is  supported  on  columns  of  precious  marble, 
form  so  many  details  of  an  elegant  regularity.     I  like  also 


52  ST.   PETER'S,   ROME 

the  interior  gallery  running  the  length  of  the  fa^atle  and 
ending  at  the  extremities  by  vestibules,  at  the  foot  of  which 
appear  two  weak  and  characterless  equestrian  statues.  One 
of  them,  the  work  of  Bernini,  represents  Constantine  ;  and 
the  other,  Charles  the  Great.  Above  the  great  door  they 
have  replaced  the  Barque  of  St.  Peter,  a  mosaic  executed  in 
1298  by  Giotto  for  the  old  basilica  j  the  work  has  been  so  re- 
handled  as  to  have  lost  its  character.  The  last  door  on  the 
right  is  walled  up,  with  a  bronze  cross  in  the  centre;  it  is 
that  of  the  Jubilees ;  it  is  only  opened  in  the  holy  year, 
four  times  in  a  century.  The  middle  approach  adorned 
with  imperial  profiles  in  medallions,  and  which  comes  from 
the  first  basilica,  is  the  work  of  Simon,  brother  of  Dona- 
tello,  assisted  by  Antonio  Philarete  ;  it  presents  on  its  bas-- 
reliefs  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  as  a  pendant 
to  Eugenius  IV.  giving  audience  to  the  deputations  from 
the  East,  and  crowning  the  Emperor  Sigismund. 

In  Italy  they  do  not  shut  the  churches  by  a  system  of 
small  doors  soon  made  greasy  by  the  hands  of  the  populace. 
Giving  a  literal  interpretation  to  Christ's  saying,  *'  My 
feather's  house  is  always  open,"  they  are  content  with  a 
curtain ;  but  in  order  to  prevent  it  from  flying  about  in  the 
wind,  this  curtain,  especially  for  doorways  of  great  size  like 
that  of  St.  Peter,  is  a  sort  of  canvas  with  lead  at  the  foot  of 
it,  and  doubled  by  a  piece  of  leather.  The  process  is  dirtier 
than  ours,  for,  as  it  falls  back  on  you,  the  leather,  which  is 
plastered  with  all  the  filth  from  people's  hands  for  centuries, 
often  gives  you  a  brush  in  the  face.  However,  there  is  no 
noise ;  you  enter  as  if  you  miraculously  made  a  hole  in  a 
wall  that  instantly  closed  up  again.  The  sensation  is  par- 
ticularly striking  at  St.  Peter's,  where  you  are  dazzled  with 
a   mass   of  splendour,  and   it  would  be  still  more  so  if  the 


ST.  PETER'S,   ROME  53 

longest  of  known  naves  and  one  of  the  highest,  since  the 
vault  is  forty-eight  metres  from  the  pavement,  disclosed  to 
you  instantaneously  its  astonishing  dimensions. 

When,  without  settling,  the  eye  draws  lines  through 
these  spaces,  your  calculations  grow ;  but  as  soon  as  it 
pauses  on  details,  they  are  so  distinctly  perceptible  that  the 
church  thus  made  small  becomes  a  mere  casket  of  jewelry. 
The  formidable  telescope  through  which  you  seem  to  be 
examining  such  a  gem  produces  the  presumption  of  a  tinier 
reality  ;  the  mind  does  not  take  in  so  excessive  an  enlarge- 
ment, and  it  is  only  by  degrees  that  it  comes  to  accept  for 
true  the  vast  cavern  of  polished  marbles,  of  mosaics,  of 
golden  foliage  from  the  lapidary's  workshop.  Some  won- 
der, too,  results  from  the  _general  freedom  of  light,  as  well 
as  from  the  freshness  of  particular  tints  ;  the  walls  faced 
with  stucco,  the  pilasters,  the  architraves,  the  pedestals, 
all  seem  shot  with  fine  shades  from  white  to  opal  and 
from  grey  to  rose.  The  lustrous  and  embellished  pave- 
ment uiiHe'r "bhe^s"  feet  turns,  as  one  retires,  into  mirrors 
doubling  as  on  the  surface  of  a  lake  all  the  arches  and 
vaults.  Finally,  what  adds  to  the  mundane  splendour  of 
this  official  basilica  is  that  on  the  counter-pilasters,  playing 
with  the  ensigns  of  the  priesthood,  circle  those  charming  an- 
gels which,  first  emancipated  by  the  child  of  Cythera,  have 
become  for  three  centuries  in  the  palaces  of  kings,  the  sportive 
pages  of  every  allegory. 

Is  it  true  that  you  have  no  suspicion  of  the  immensity  of 
the  church,  before  you  have  measured  yourself  with  Libe- 
roni's  angels  in  yellow  marble,  two  metres  high,  which  sup- 
port against  the  first  pillar  a  vessel  for  holy  water  in  the 
shape  of  a  shell  ?  This  is  not  quite  accurate  ;  the  thickness 
of  the  air  which  makes  the  bottom  of  the  nave  cloudy,  the 


54  ST.   PETER'S,  ROME 

microscopic  smallness  of  distant  passers-by,  have  already 
informed  you. 

When  you  pay  a  visit  to  St.  Peter's,  you  might  imagine 
that  you  were  come  to  pay  court  to  some  one.  So  many 
prelates  and  pontiffs  in  their  dresses  of  ceremony  seem  still 
to  exist  there  that  the  basilica  might  be  called  the  greatest 
reception-room  on  the  globe. 

The  statue  which  people  generally  visit  first,  by  way  of 
paying  dutiful  respect  to  the  patron  of  the  place,  is  the 
seated  statue  of  St.  Peter,  a  bronze  of  the  Fifth  Century, 
which,  towards  the  year  445,  Pope  Leo  placed  in  the  basilica. 
I  do  not  know  who  has  advanced  the  doctrine  that  it  was 
the  ancient  statue  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  but  it  must  have 
been  a  jest,  for  nobody  can  take  for  a  statue  of  massive 
gold  which  Domitian  set  up  in  the  First  Century,  this 
bronze  of  the  very  middle  of  the  Decadence,  stiff,  poor  in 
design,  and  with  the  right  hand  which  blesses  and  the  left 
which  hold?  the  keys,  cast  along  with  the  rest  of  the  body. 
The  statue  is  the  object  of  such  veneration  that  the  kisses 
of  the  faithful  have  polished  and  worn  its  foot.  It  is  doubt- 
ful whether  any  bronze  figure  of  life-size  consecrated  to  a 
Christian  hero  can  be  earlier  than  this. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  nave  the  eye  is  attracted  to  the 
front  of  the  master-altar  at  the  foot  of  which  are  the  eighty- 
seven  lamps,  perpetually  burning  on  the  circular  balustrade 
of  the  crypt  or  confession  ;  you  would  take  them  for  a  mass 
of  yellow  roses.  Their  stems  are  gilded  cornucopias.  At 
the  foot  of  the  steps  is  Pius  VI.  kneeling  in  prayer,  his  eyes 
fixed  on  the  tomb  of  the  apostles ;  his  last  desires,  as  he 
lay  dying  in  exile,  were  a  dream  of  this  burial-place. 
Urban  VIII.  had  constructed  by  Bernini  the  great  canopy 
of  the  master-altar  of  gilded  bronze,  with  twisted  columns 


ST.  PETER'S,  ROME  55 

loaded  with  an  entablature,  which,  filled  at  the  corners  by 
four  angels  standing,  supports  a  globe  surmounted  by  the 
cross.  Nothing  has  been  so  often  imitated  as  these  twisted 
columns:  from  1630  to  1680  all  altars  had  glories  like  that 
of  the  Tribuna  and  twisted  pillars  like  those  of  St.  Peter's. 
The  form  of  the  columns  of  Bernini  has  been  determined 
by  four  small  marble  pillars  of  the  old  Ciborium,  brought, 
it  is  said,  from  Jerusalem,  and  which  are  supposed  to  have 
come  from  the  Temple :  they  are  still  seen,  arranged  with 
others  that  have  been  copied,  on  the  four  balconies  con- 
structed in  the  pillars  of  the  transept.  It  is  from  one  of 
these  projecting  balconies,  that  which  commands  St. 
Veronica,  that  during  the  holy  days  they  display  the  great 
relics — the  holy  face,  the  wood  of  the  true  Cross  and  the 
lance  of  Longinus. 

I  have  mentioned  the  dimensions  of  the  canopy  ;  that 
estimate  adopted  for  a  standard,  you  take  in  almost  with 
terror  the  height  of  the  vault,  beneath  which  this  toy  of 
twenty-nine  metres  is  lost.  The  apse  is  164  feet  long.  At 
the  back  is  the  Presbyterium,  where  in  the  days  of  pontifical 
solemnity  the  sacred  college  is  ranged  around  the  Pope. 
There  is  in  it  a  sumptuous  altar,  and,  in  the  middle  of  a 
glory  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter,  sustained  by  four  colossal 
figures  of  bronze  and  gold,  which  represent  two  fathers  of 
the  Latin  and  two  of  the  Greek  Church.  The  Chair,  by 
Bernini,  is  only  an  outside  case,  containing  the  curule  seat 
of  Egyptian  wood  faced  with  ivory,  which  is  supposed  to 
have  been  given  by  the  senator  Pudens  to  his  guest  the 
Apostle  Peter. 

The  finest  and  one  of  the  most  spacious  of  the  chapels  is 
that  of  the  Holy  Sacrament,  where  in  front  of  a  copy  in 
mosaic  of  Caravaggio's  Descent  from  the  Cross,  and  at  the 


56  ST.   PETER'S,   ROME 

foot  of  the  altar  which  it  decorates,  is  a  monument  in 
bronze,  very  lowly  since  it  lies  upon  the  ground,  and  very 
simple  as  you  take  it  in  at  a  glance,  but  which  is  in  my  eyes 
the  marvel  of  the  basilica  :  the  true  amateur  has  already 
named  the  tomb  of  Sixtus  IV.,  which  Antonio  Pollajuolo 
executed. 

Fully  to  appreciate  the  extravagant  immensity  of  the 
basilica  it  is  not  enough  to  saunter  there  for  long  hours ; 
you  must  wander  all  round  it  and  contemplate  from  the 
gardens  the  dome  and  one  of  the  apses,  falling  formidably 
and  as  at  a  single  cast  down  to  the  branches  of  the  great 
green  oaks  which  look  like  mere  shrubs.  But  above  all  do 
not  shrink  from  the  ascent  of  the  cupola  of  St.  Peter. 

A  gentle  interior  slope,  cut  by  some  very  low  steps  that 
sheep  might  ascend,  raises  you  to  the  platform  between  the 
summit  of  the  facade  and  the  drum  of  the  dome  j  it  is  the 
first  plateau  of  this  artificial  mountain.  Advancing  im- 
mediately towards  the  piazza,  to  throw  a  glance  from  this 
height  upon  the  pavement,  I  leaned  against  an  upright  rock, 
posted  there  like  a  Druidical  altar  5  and  as  other  similar 
masses  disclosed  their  outlines  at  my  side,  I  recognized  the 
twelve  statues  of  the  apostles  which  crown  Maderno's 
facade.  Turning  right  round,  I  had  in  front  of  me  a  sort 
of  plain  ending  in  the  monstrous  tower  of  which  the  cupola 
is  the  roof  To  the  right  and  left,  like  hills,  the  small 
octagonal  domes,  now  become  considerable,  bound  the 
valley  which  is  the  flattened  roof  of  the  three  aisles.  The 
country  is  inhabited ;  there  has  been  formed  in  it  a  small 
hamlet,  with  workshops,  huts,  sheds  for  domestic  beasts,  a 
forge,  a  carpenter's  stores,  wash-houses,  ovens ;  some  little 
carts  are  stabled;  a  fountain  sparkles  in  a  rivulet  which 
conducts  it  to  a  large  basin  or  small  lake  in  which  the  dome 


ST.   PETER'S,  ROME  57 

mirrors  itself;  you  feel  that  there  is  up  here  an  organized 
existence.  For  several  families  in  fact,  it  is  a  native  land; 
the  workmen  of  St.  Peter,  called  San  Pietrini,  succeed  one 
another  from  father  to  son  and  form  a  tribe.  The  natives 
of  the  terrace  have  laws  and  customs  of  their  own.  From 
this  spot,  whence  you  discern  the  height  of  the  building  in 
full  development,  there  are  still  285  feet  to  climb. 

Another  point  of  view  over  the  interior  of  the  church  is 
contrived  in  the  entablature  which  describes  the  circum- 
ference of  the  cupola.  This  border  is  more  than  two  metres 
high,  although  from  the  pavement  you  would  take  it  for  a 
simple  moulding.  From  this  height  the  church  seems  to 
you  like  the  bottom  of  an  abyss  ;  the  canopy  of  the  altar 
sinks  into  the  earth  and  the  faithful  are  dots ;  a  bluish  haze 
increases  the  enormousness  of  jhe  space.  And  as  your 
eyes  ascend  the  walls  of  the  dome  the  frieze  discloses  in 
capital  letters  seven  feet  high  the  famous  inscription,  Tu  Es 
Petrus^  which  from  below  does  not  seem  more  than  six 
inches  high.  On  the  pendentives  I  had  remarked  a  St. 
Mark  of  a  reasonable  statue ;  seen  from  here  it  stretches 
under  the  cupola  like  a  cloud ;  the  pen  with  which  he 
writes  is  a  metre  and  a  half  in  length. 

At  length  the  real  ascent  begins  between  the  two  shells 
of  the  cupola  and  this  strange  journey,  in  which  as  you 
climb  you  lean  over  curved  and  inclined  planes,  at  last,  by  a 
curious  sensation,  robs  you  of  all  feeling  of  a  horizontal  line, 
and  consequently  of  a  perpendicular.  You  are  then  in  a 
state  of  considerable  amazement  when  you  come  out  upon 
two  sights  of  a  most  singular  effect ;  in  the  inside,  seen 
from  a  circular  balustrade  devised  in  the  lantern,  the  pave- 
ment of  the  church,  as  if  seen  at  the  end  of  a  telescope  with 
the  object  at  the  small  end  ;  outside,  from  a  narrow  gallery 


58  ST.  PETER'S,   ROME 

round  the  lantern,  a  perspective  that  is  almost  unbounded ; 
it  embraces  all  the  old  Latin  world  from  the  Sabine  hills  to 
the  sea,  and  from  the  heights  of  Alba  to  Etruria.  Only 
when  you  come  out  from  the  inner  arches  into  the  full  and 
dazzling  sun  of  this  eagle's  nest,  you  are  not  only  dazzled 
but  almost  lifted  up  in  the  air  by  hurricanes  of  wind  which 
come  from  the  Mediterranean  to  dash  themselves  against 
this  height. 

You  have  now  only  to  seek  the  ball  of  bronze,  which 
from  below  has  the  effect  of  a  melon,  and  which  is  capable 
of  holding  sixteen  persons.  You  reach  it  by  an  iron  ladder 
absolutely  perpendicular.  The  concussion  of  the  wind 
makes  this  iron  globe  constantly  musical;  it  is  pierced  with 
loopholes  invisible  from  below,  and  through  which,  seated 
on  an  iron  ledge,  you  prolong  your  gaze  far  over  the  moun- 
tains. Seen  thus  from  the  blue  tract  of  the  skies,  the 
Roman  Campagna  loses  its  russet  glow  in  the  green  mirage  ; 
the  flattened  slopes  no  longer  justify  the  many  windings  of 
the  Tiber,  and  the  seven  hills  of  Rome — which  are  in 
truth  ten — are  no  longer  distinguishable.  These  perspec- 
tives are  still  more  magical  from  the  Giro  dei  Candelahri^ 
where,  commanding  the  cupola  with  its  arches,  descending 
like  the  slopes  of  an  escarped  island  from  a  lower  height, 
you  measure  the  extent  of  the  Borgo  and  the  Vatican 
palaces,  which  with  their  square  buildings  and  labyrin- 
thine gardens  produce  the  effect  of  a  heavenly  Jerusalem  in 
the  illuminations  of  some  old  missal. 

The  dome,  which  makes  the  cross  sparkle  over  the 
horizon  of  Rome  higher  than  the  eagles  of  Jupiter  ever 
flew,  is  the  true  mountain  of  this  spiritual  empire,  and  the 
hills  make  a  circle  of  homage  around  it.  For  the  basilica 
of  St.  Peter  is  even  more  than  a  prodigy  of  human  will;  it 


ST.  PETER'S,  ROME  59 

is  the  sensible  translation  of  a  thought ;  it  is  the  history  of 
Christianity  sung  in  a  poem  of  stone  and  marble  and  attested 
by  the  witness  of  proofs  in  the  spot  where  they  actually  oc- 
curred. For  all  sects,  for  all  believers  of  whatever  faith, 
St.  Peter's  is  one  of  the  sacred  enclosures  of  the  universe. 


PAMPLONA  CATHEDRAL 

GEORGE  EDMUND  STREET 

THE  towers  and  walls  of  Pamplona  are  seen  for  some 
time  before  they  are  reached.  The  railway  follows 
the  winding  of  a  pretty  stream  and  the  city  stands  well  elevated 
above  it.  The  situation  is  indeed  very  charming,  the  whole 
character  of  the  country  being  thoroughly  mountainous,  and 
the  city  standing  on  an  elevated  knoll  rising  out  of  an  ample 
and  prosperous-looking  valley  surrounded  by  fine  hills. 

The  views  from  the  Cathedral  and  walls  are  very  beauti- 
ful, and  as  the  town  is  large  and  rather  handsomely  laid  out 
with  a  grand  arcaded  Plaza  in  the  centre,  it  gives  a  very 
favourable  impression  of  Spain  to  those  who  make  it  their 
first  resting-place  on  a  Spanish  tour. 

The  Cathedral  stands  on  the  outside  of  the  city  and  close 
to  the  walls.  It  was  commenced  in  a.  d.  1397  by 
Charles  III.  of  Navarre,  who  pulled  down  almost  the  whole 
of  the  old  church  (built  circa  A.  D.  iioo).  The  planning 
of  this  church  is  both  ingenious  and  novel.  Its  chevet  is 
entirely  devised  upon  a  system  of  equilateral  triangles,  and 
the  apse  has  only  two  canted  sides,  having  a  column  in  the 
centre  behind  the  altar  j  and  though  it  is  perfectly  true  that 
this  two-sided  apse  is  in  itself  not  a  very  graceful  scheme,  it 
is  at  the  same  time  equally  true  that  the  combination  of  the 
chapels  with  the  central  apse  is  very  ingenious  and  clever. 
The  distortion  of  the  chapel  next  to  the  transept  is  very 
objectionable,  and  seems  to  be  without  reason  or  necessity. 


PAMPLONA  CATHEDRAL,  6 1 

There  are  transepts  and  a  nave  and  aisles  of  six  bays  in 
length,  with  side  chapels  along  the  greater  part  of  the  aisles. 
The  extreme  shortness  of  the  constructional  choir  makes  it 
certain  that  the  church  was  planned  for  the  modern  Spanish 
arrangement  of  the  Coro,  which  now  occupies  two  bays 
of  the  nave,  leaving  one  bay  between  its  eastern  Reja  and 
the  Crossing.  The  Reja  of  the  Capilla  mayor  is  under  the 
eastern  arch  of  the  Crossing,  so  that  the  low  rails  marking 
the  passage  from  the  Coro  to  the  Capilla  mayor  are  very 
long.  The  detail  of  all  the  architecture  is  characteristic  of 
the  late  date  at  which  the  church  was  built.  The  columns 
are  large,  but  composed  of  a  succession  of  insignificant 
mouldings,  so  as  to  produce  but  little  effect  of  bold  light 
and  shade :  those  in  the  choir  are  cylindrical,  with  clusters 
of  mouldings  supporting,  and  continued  on  as  the  groin- 
ing ribs,  and  they  all  lack  that  definiteness  of  arrangement 
and  plan  which  is  one  of  the  surest  tests  of  the  difference 
between  good  and  bad  Gothic  architecture  generally,  as  it 
is  between  the  work  of  men  of  the  Thirteenth  and  Four- 
teenth Centuries  almost  everywhere. 

The  internal  effect  of  the  Cathedral  is  certainly  very  fine. 
The  peculiar  scheme  of  the  apse  allows  of  the  erection  of  a 
Retablo  of  unusual  height  with  less  interference  with  the 
architectural  features  than  is  common ;  and  the  whole 
design  has  the  merit  which  I  have  so  often  had  to  accord  to 
the  latest  school  of  Gothic  artists  in  Spain,  of  having  been 
schemed  with  an  evident  intention  of  meeting  and  provid- 
ing for  the  necessities  of  the  climate ;  and  one  consequence 
of  this  is  that  almost  all  the  windows  are  left  as  they  were 
originally  designed,  and  have  not  been  blocked  up  in  order 
to  diminish  the  glare.  The  clerestory  windows  throughout 
are  small,  those  in  the  transepts  are  only  small  roses,  and  ow- 


62  PAMPLONA  CATHEDRAL 

ing  to  the  steep  slope  of  the  aisle  roofs  there  is  a  great  space 
between  these  openings  and  the  main  arcades.  The  three 
eastern  bays  of  the  nave  have  geometrical  traceries,  whilst 
in  the  western  bays  and  the  choir  they  are  flamboyant  in 
character ;  but  I  do  not  imagine  that  this  slight  difference 
in  character  betokens  any  real  difference  in  their  age. 
They  all,  in  short,  have  somewhat  of  late  middle-pointed 
character,  though  their  actual  date  and  their  detail  would 
make  us  class  them  rather  with  works  of  the  third-pointed 
style. 

The  stalls  in  the  Coro  are  of  Renaissance  character,  but 
founded  closely  on  the  older  models ;  and  the  Reja,  to  the 
east  of  them,  is  of  wrought  iron,  old,  but  with  a  Renaissance 
cresting.  The  Reja  in  front  of  the  Capilla  mayor  is  much 
finer;  it  is  of  wrought  iron,  and  is  made,  as  is  so  usual, 
with  vertical  bars,  set  rather  close  together,  and  alternately 
plain  and  twisted.  What  the  lower  part  lacks  in  orna- 
ment the  cresting  more  than  atones  for  ;  it  is  usually  ornate, 
consisting  of  interlacing  ogee  arches  with  crocketed  pin- 
nacles between  them,  all  very  elaborately  hammered  up. 
The  horizontal  bars  and  rails  are  also  all  covered  with 
traceries  in  relief,  and  at  regular  intervals  on  these  there  are 
small  figures  under  canopies.  The  whole  stands  upon  a 
moulded  and  panelled  base  of  stone.  The  total  height  of 
this  screen  is  not  less  than  thirty  feet  of  which  the  cresting 
is  about  a  third. 

Of  the  other  furniture  I  may  mention  some  of  the  glass 
in  the  clerestory,  which  is  fine ;  and  the  old  Retablos. 
Two  of  these  in  the  south  chapel  of  the  chevet  are  espe- 
cially worthy  of  notice.  One  of  them  has  a  crucifix  (with 
the  figure  draped  in  modern  drapery)  which  has  the  feet 
half  plated  with  silver,  and  behind  it  are  twelve  prophets  in 


PAMPLONA  CATHEDRAL  63 

rows  of  four  over  each  other,  and  all  of  them  with  inscrip- 
tions referring  to  the  Crucifixion — such  as  the  texts  begin- 
ning Forderunt  manus ;  Fere  languores  nostras  ipse  tuiit ; 
Post  ebdomadas  sexaginta  dies  occidetur ;  ^uid  sicut  plage  iste  ; 
etc. 

The  western  front  is  a  poor  Pagan  work  utterly  out  of 
keeping  with  the  remainder  of  the  fabric,  and  erected  in  the 
last  century  from  the  designs  of  D.  Ventura  Rodriguez. 
The  rest  of  the  exterior  is  Gothic,  but  not  at  all  striking. 
It  was  once  well  garnished  with  crocketed  pinnacles  above 
its  flying  buttresses,  but  they  have  now  for  the  most  part 
disappeared.  The  roofs  are  flat  and  tiled  and  hipped  back 
in  an  ungainly  fashion  even  at  the  transept.  The  north 
transept  door  has  an  unusually  fine  example  of  a  latch-handle 
or  closing  ring :  the  handle  has  writhing  serpents  round  it, 
and  the  plate  is  perforated  all  over  with  rich  flamboyant 
traceries. 

This  Cathedral  is  fortunate  in  retaining  many  of  its  old 
dependent  buildings  in  a  very  perfect  state,  but  unfortu- 
nately I  have  spent  only  one  day  in  Pamplona,  and  I  did 
not  see,  by  any  means,  all  that  is  to  be  seen.  For  Caen 
Bermudez  says  that  some  portions  of  the  first  Cathedral, 
founded  in  a.  d.  iioo,  still  remain  ;  particularly  the  small 
cloister,  and  some  of  the  buildings  attached  to  it.  This  was 
the  last  cathedral  in  Spain  that  observed  the  rule  of  St. 
Augustine,  and  the  canons  always  lived  in  common ;  the 
refectory,  said  to  be  of  the  Thirteenth  Century,  the  kitchen 
and  oflices,  all  still  remain.  Of  about  the  same  age  as  the 
Cathedral  are  the  beautiful  cloisters  on  its  south  side,  and 
the  Chapter-house  to  the  east  of  the  cloister.  It  is  said,  in- 
deed, that  a  part  of  this  cloister  had  been  built  some 
seventy  years  before  the  fall  of  the  old  Cathedral  rendered 


64  PAMPLONA  CATHEDRAL 

it  necessary  to  rebuild  it  from  the  ground,  and  the  style  of 
much  of  the  work  encourages  one  to  believe  the  statement. 
It  is  certainly  a  very  charming  work  in  every  way  :  it  is 
square  in  plan,  each  side  having  six  traceried  windows  to- 
wards the  centre  court,  and  a  small  chapel  breaks  out  into 
this  at  the  southwest  angle.  The  windows  are  all  of  four 
lights,  filled  with  geometrical  traceries,  with  crocketed  labels 
to  some  and  canopies  to  others  and  delicate  buttresses  and 
pinnacles  dividing  the  bays.  The  low  wall  below  the  open 
windows  is  covered  with  small  figures  in  niches  and  the 
walls  above  the  windows  with  panelling,  as  is  also  the  para- 
pet of  the  modern  upper  cloister.  The  general  conception 
is  very  ornate,  and  at  the  same  time  very  delicate  and  light 
in  its  proportions ;  and  it  is  rendered  very  interesting  by 
the  number  of  rich  doorways,  monuments  and  sculptures 
with  which  the  walls  are  everywhere  enriched.  The  door 
called  "  Of  our  Lady  of  the  Refuge  "  opens  from  the  tran- 
sept to  the  cloister  ;  its  front  is  in  the  cloister,  of  which  it 
occupies  the  northwestern  bay.  In  its  tympanum  is  a  sculp- 
ture of  the  burial  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  whose  statue,  with 
the  figure  of  our  Lord  in  her  arms,  occupies  the  post  of  hon- 
our against  the  central  pier.  The  reveals  of  the  jambs  are 
filled  with  little  niches  and  canopies  in  which  are  figures 
and  subjects  ;  and  below  the  bases,  in  a  band  of  quatre- 
foils,  are  on  the  one  side  the  Acts  of  Mercy ;  on  the  other, 
figures  playing  on  instruments.  Angels  in  the  archivolt  bear 
a  scroll  on  which  is  inscribed — ^uee  est  ista  que  ascendit  de 
deserto  deliciis  affluens^  innixa  super  dilectwn  suum  ?  Assumpta 
est  Maria  in  cesium.  Against  the  east  wall  of  the  cloister  is  a 
sculpture  of  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  and  next  to  this  the 
grand  triple  opening  to  the  Chapter-house — a  richly  moulded 
door  with  a  two-light  window  on  either  side.     In  the  south- 


PAMPLONA  CATHEDRAL  65 

ern  alley  are  a  fine  tomb  of  a  bishop,  the  door  of  the  Sala 
Preciosa  adorned  with  a  series  of  bas-reliefs  from  the  life  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  another  door  with  the  Last  Supper 
and  the  Entry  into  Jerusalem  ;  and  close  to  the  latter,  but 
in  the  western  wall,  is  a  doorway  with  the  Crucifixion  and 
the  Maries  going  to  the  Sepulchre.  Between  these  sculp- 
tured doorways  the  walls  are  all  arcaded  with  tracery  panels 
corresponding  to  the  windows  ;  and  as  all  the  mouldings 
are  rich  and  delicate  in  their  design,  and  the  proportions  of 
the  cloister  very  lofty,  it  will  be  seen  that  I  cannot  be  very 
far  wrong  in  considering  this  to  be,  on  the  whole,  one  of 
the  most  effective  and  striking  cloisters  of  its  ase.  The 
projecting  chapel  on  the  southwest  angle  is  exceedingly  del- 
icate in  its  construction,  and  is  screened  from  the  cloister 
with  iron  grilles.  A  quaintly  trimmed  box-garden  occupies 
the  cloister-court  to  the  no  small  improvement  of  its  effect. 
On  the  eastern  side  is  the  Chapter-house ;  a  very  re- 
markable work  of  probably  the  same  age  as  the  cloister, 
though  of  a  simpler,  bolder,  and  much  more  grand  kind  of 
design.  It  is  square  in  plan,  but  the  vault  is  octagonal,  the 
angles  of  the  square  being  arched,  covered  with  small  subor- 
dinate vaults  below  the  springing  of  the  main  vault.  But- 
tresses are  placed  outside  to  resist  the  thrust  of  each  of  the 
eight  principal  ribs  of  the  octagonal  vault ;  and  these  but- 
tresses, being  all  placed  in  the  same  direction  as  the  ribs, 
abut  against  the  square  outline  of  the  building  in  the  most 
singular  and,  at  first  sight,  unintelligible  manner.  They 
are  carried  up  straight  from  the  ground  nearly  to  the  eaves, 
where  they  are  weathered  back  and  finished  with  square 
crocketed  pinnacles  ;  whilst  between  them  an  open  arcade 
is  carried  all  round  just  below  the  eaves.  On  the  exterior 
this   Chapter-house  seems  to  be  so   far  removed  from  the 


66  PAMPLONA  CATHEDRAL 

east  end  of  the  church  as  to  have  hardly  any  connection 
with  it ;  they  are  separated  by  houses  built  up  close  to  their 
walls,  and  present  consequently  a  not  very  imposing  effect 
from  the  exterior ;  and  standing,  as  the  Chapter-house  does, 
just  on  the  edge  of  the  city  walls,  it  is  strange  that  it  has 
fared  so  well  in  the  many  attacks  that  have  been  made  on 
Pamplona.  The  interior  is  remarkable  only  for  the  grand 
scale  and  proportions  of  the  vault  with  which  it  is  covered. 


ELY  CATHEDRAL 

W.  D.  SWEETING 

FEW  persons  would  dispute  the  statement  that  for  ex- 
ternal grandeur  of  effect  the  Cathedral  at  Ely  is  sur- 
passed only,  if  at  all,  in  England  by  Durham  and  Lincoln. 
With  the  natural  advantages  of  position  enjoyed  by  those 
cathedrals,  Ely  cannot  compete.  In  both  cases  also,  there 
are  grand  Mediaeval  buildings  of  great  size  at  hand  that 
group  well  with  the  cathedrals  and  materially  improve  the 
effect.  But,  compared  with  the  adjacent  country,  Ely  does 
stand  on  an  eminence,  and  consequently  can  be  seen  from 
a  great  distance  in  all  directions. 

It  is  not  only  its  magnificence  that  makes  the  view  of 
Ely  Cathedral  so  remarkable,  there  is  also  the  feeling  that 
it  has  so  many  striking  features,  to  which  we  can  find  noth- 
ing to  compare.  "The  first  glimpse  of  Ely  overwhelms 
us,  not  only  by  its  stateliness  and  variety  of  its  outline,  but 
by  its  utter  strangeness,  its  unlikeness  to  anything  else." 
So  says  Professor  Freeman ;  and  again :  "  Ely  .  . 
with  its  vast  single  western  tower,  with  its  central  octagon 
unlike  anything  else  in  the  whole  world,  has  an  outline  al- 
together peculiar  to  itself." 

The  great  wealth  of  the  monastery  accounts  for  the  orig- 
inal magnificence  of  the  church ;  and  even  when  the  re- 
sources both  of  the  See  and  the  Cathedral  body  were  re- 
duced, they   were   still   amply   sufficient    to    maintain    the 


68  ELY  CATHEDRAL 

fabric  without  the  loss  of  any  material  portion  of  it.  We 
have  no  knowledge  of  the  occasion  of  the  ruin  of  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  west  transept,  but  there  is  no  suggestion 
that  it  was  allowed  to  fall  through  want  of  means  to  keep 
it  up. 

When  we  examine  the  details  of  the  architecture  we  can 
express  nothing  but  the  greatest  admiration.  The  whole 
of  the  south  wing  of  the  front  belongs  to  the  last  quarter 
of  the  Twelfth  Century.  The  lowest  stage  of  all  (for 
there  are  six  stages,  divided  by  horizontal  strings)  is  blank ; 
the  next  three  are  late  Norman.  These  have  in  the  lowest 
stage  in  each  of  the  two  divisions  an  arcade  of  seven  tall 
lancets ;  in  the  next  above  are  four  broader  arches,  each 
containing  two  small  lancets  beneath  ;  in  the  upper  ones  is 
a  large  window  under  a  round  arch  of  four  receding  orders, 
with  a  blank  lancet  on  each  side.  In  the  north  wing,  it 
should  be  noted  the  late  Norman  work  was  carried  up  one 
stage  higher  than  on  the  south.  The  upper  stages  are 
transitional  in  character,  but  they  carry  on  the  idea  of  the 
Norman  design  below. 

The  Galilee  Porch  is  of  excellent  Early  English  work, 
with  details  of  great  beauty.  Certainly  nowhere  in  Eng- 
land, possibly  nowhere  in  the  world,  is  there  to  be  seen  so 
fine  a  porch.  "Perhaps  the  most  gorgeous  porch  of  this 
style  in  existence  is  the  Galilee  at  the  west  end  of  Ely 
Cathedral :  this  magnificent  specimen  of  the  Early  English 
style  must  be  seen  to  be  duly  appreciated  ;  it  combines  the 
most  elegant  general  forms  with  the  richest  detail ;  a  very 
happy  effect  is  produced  by  the  double  arcade  on  each  side, 
one  in  front  of  the  other  with  detached  shafts,  not  opposite 
but  alternate"  (Rickman). 

Each  side,  externally,  is  covered  with  lancet  arcading  in 


ELY  CATHEDRAL  69 

four  tiers.  In  the  upper  tier  the  lancets  are  trefoiled,  with 
dog-tooth  in  the  moulding ;  in  the  next  lower  tier  the  lan- 
cets are  cinquefoiled,  with  two  sets  of  dog-tooth.  The 
lancets  in  the  west  face  are  all  cinquefoiled,  and  the  three 
lower  tiers  here  have  trefoils  in  the  spandrels.  Nearly  all 
are  highly  enriched  with  dog-tooth  j  while  the  mouldings 
of  the  west  door  have  conventional  foliage  as  well.  The 
lancets  here  are  deeper  than  on  the  sides  of  the  porch,  and 
were  probably  designed  to  hold  figures.  Of  the  three  large 
lancets  in  the  west  window  the  central  one  is  slightly  more 
lofty  than  the  others. 

The  interior  of  the  porch  is  even  more  beautiful ;  the 
profusion  of  ornamentation  on  the  inner  doorway  and  the 
exceeding  gracefulness  of  the  double  arcades  in  the  sides 
are  quite  unsurpassed.  Both  doorways  are  divided  by  a 
shaft,  and  both  have  open  tracery  of  exceptional  beauty 
above.  Bishop  Eustache,  to  whom  this  porch  is  attributed, 
died  in  1215. 

The  door  into  the  south  aisle  is  known  as  the  Monk's 
Door,  and  is  the  regular  entrance  into  the  Cathedral  from 
the  south.  It  opened  from  the  eastern  walk  of  the  cloister. 
It  is  of  later  date  than  the  wall  in  which  it  is  placed.  The 
ornamentation  is  very  rich ;  one  spiral  column  is  especially 
noteworthy.  This  is  a  trefoiled  arch,  the  cusps  having  cir- 
cular terminations  v/ith  the  star  ornament.  In  the  span- 
drels are  quaint,  crouching  monks,  each  holding  a  pastoral 
staff.     Above  are  two  curiously  twisted  dragons. 

The  Prior's  Door  is  nearly  at  the  west  end  of  the  north 
alley  of  the  cloister.  Like  the  monk's  door,  it  is  an  inser- 
tion, being  later  than  the  wall.  It  is  a  very  fine  specimen 
of  late  Norman.  The  tympanum  is  filled  with  carvmg  in 
high  relief.     In  the  centre  is  the  Saviour,  seated,  enclosed 


70  ELY  CATHEDRAL 

within  a  vesica  piscis^  His  right  hand  uplifted  in  blessing, 
His  left  hand  resting  on  an  open  book. 

Entering  the  Cathedral  from  the  west,  we  have  the  full 
view  of  the  entire  building,  the  vista  being  not  broken,  but 
relieved  by  the  open  screen.  Before  examining  the  nave 
itself,  the  visitor  should  inspect  the  lower  part  of  the  west 
tower  beneath  which  he  is  standing.  We  can  see  here  the 
methods  taken  to  secure  the  stability  of  the  structure. 
Very  massive  Perpendicular  arches  have  been  built  beneath 
the  lofty  Norman  ones,  and  all  the  four  great  piers  were 
surrounded  with  masonry  at  the  same  time.  Both  Bentham 
and  Miller  give  the  date  1405-1406  for  the  beginning  of 
this  work.  This  date  is  quite  consistent  with  the  charac- 
ter of  the  mouldings  of  the  arches. 

The  Nave. — Originally  of  thirteen  bays,  but  since  the 
fall  of  the  central  tower  of  twelve  bays,  the  nave  is  a  most 
complete  and  perfect  specimen  of  late  Norman  work. 
The  naves  of  Ely  and  Peterborough  are  conspicuously  the 
best  examples  of  the  period  in  England.  In  most  respects 
they  are  very  similar,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  pronounce 
one  superior  to  the  other.  In  one  point,  indeed,  the  su- 
periority is  with  the  Ely  nave.  There  is  not  in  it  the 
slightest  mixture  of  any  Transitional  details.  At  Peter- 
borough we  can  detect  towards  the  west  some  unmistak- 
able evidences  of  the  approaching  change  in  style.  It  is 
believed  that  the  nave  was  completed  by  Bishop  Riddell — 
that  is  before  11 73. 

The  nave  aisles  retain  their  groined  roofs.  Some  re- 
mains of  coloured  decoration  may  be  seen  in  various  places, 
especially  in  the  south  aisle ;  and  the  appearance  of  more 
elaborate  colouring  at  one  place  seems  to  indicate  that 
there  was  a  side  altar  beneath. 


ELY  CATHEDRAL  7 1 

The  Octagon. — Few  visitors  will  perhaps  be  disposed  to 
examine  any  of  the  objects  of  interest  in  the  Cathedral  be- 
fore an  inspection  of  the  beauties  of  this  magnificent  erec- 
tion, the  first  sight  of  which,  from  one  of  the  smaller  arches 
towards  the  aisles,  is  a  thing  never  to  be  forgotten.  There 
is  not  one  of  the  many  able  artists  and  architects  who  have 
written  about  the  octagon  that  has  not  spoken  of  it  as  being 
without  a  rival  in  the  whole  world ;  and  the  admiration 
that  was  expressed  fifty  and  more  years  ago  would  have 
been  far  greater,  and  the  enthusiasm  more  profound,  had 
the  writers  seen  it  in  its  present  state  of  perfect  restoration. 
No  description  can  do  adequate  justice  to  the  grandeur  of 
the  conception  or  to  the  brilliancy  of  the  execution  of  this 
renowned  work. 

The  four  great  arches  rise  to  the  full  height  of  the  roof  j 
that  to  the  east,  indeed,  is  higher  than  the  vaulted  roof  of 
the  choir  and  presbytery,  the  intervening  space  being  occu- 
pied with  tracery  of  woodwork  on  painted  boards,  the 
Saviour  on  the  Cross  being  painted  in  the  middle.  The 
wooden  vaulting  of  the  octagon  springs  from  capitals  on 
the  same  level  as  those  of  the  great  arches.  The  four 
small  arches  to  the  aisle  are,  of  course,  no  higher  than  the 
roofs  of  the  aisles ;  above  these,  on  each  side,  are  three 
figures  of  apostles,  under  canopies  with  crockets.  The 
figures  are  seated  and  each  holds  an  emblem,  by  which  it 
can  be  seen  for  whom  the  figure  is  intended.  It  may  be 
noticed  (in  the  central  figure  on  the  southwest  side)  that 
S.  Paul,  not  S.  Matthias,  is  put  in  the  place  of  Iscariot. 
The  hood-moulds  of  the  arches  are  terminated  by  heads, 
of  which  six  are  portraits.  King  Edward  III.  and  Queen 
Philippa  are  at  the  northeast.  Bishop  Hotham  and  Prior 
Crauden    at    the    southeast,  Walsingham   and   his  master- 


72  ELY  CATHEDRAL 

mason  (so  it  is  believed)  at  the  northwest;  those  to  the 
southwest  are  mere  grotesques.  Above  the  seated  figures 
on  each  side  is  a  window  of  four  broad  lights  filled  with 
stained  glass.  The  eight  chief  vaulting  shafts  rise  from 
the  ground  as  slight  triple  shafts  j  they  support  a  little  above 
the  spring  of  the  side  arches  large  corbels,  which  form 
bases  for  exquisitely  designed  niches,  and  through  these 
spring  more  shafts  reaching  to  the  vault.  On  each  of  the 
corbels  is  a  boldly  carved  scene  from  the  career  of  S.  Ethel- 
dreda :  they  commence  at  the  northwest  arch.  The  sub- 
jects (two  to  each  arch)  are  as  follows  : 

Northwest  Arch  :  S.  Etheldreda's  second  marriage.  Her 
taking  the  Veil  at  Coldingham.  Northeast  Arch  :  Her 
staff  taking  root.  Her  preservation  in  the  flood  at  S.  Abb's 
Head.  Southeast  Arch :  Her  installation  as  Abbess  of 
Ely.  Her  death  and  burial  (two  scenes).  Southwest  Arch  : 
One  of  her  miracles.      Her  translation. 

The  architectural  student  will  find  the  transepts  of  the 
greatest  interest,  as  in  them  is  to  be  seen  the  earliest  work 
in  the  Cathedral.  They  are  similar  in  general  character  to 
those  at  Winchester,  which  were  built  by  Abbot  Simeon's 
brother.  The  transepts  of  Winchester  were  ready  for  con- 
secration in  1093,  ^"^  ^^'^  ^^^  seven  years  before  Simeon 
came  to  Ely.  The  triforium  is  probably  only  in  part  Sim- 
eon's work;  and  the  clerestory  was  almost  certainly  added 
by  his  successor.  Both  transepts  have  aisles,  but  in  the 
south  transept  the  western  aisle  is  walled  off. 

The  triforium  and  clerestory  ranges  are  almost  identical 
with  those  in  the  nave.  In  the  south  transept  the  western 
windows  of  the  triforium  have  been  altered  into  three-liglit 
Perpendicular  windows.  The  roofs  of  both  transepts  have 
been    raised   but   it   is   not   known   at  what   time.     At  the 


ELY  CATHEDRAL  73 

north  end  are  two  large  windows  of  good  Perpendicular 
character;  at  the  south  is  a  single  window  of  seven  lights, 
of  very  singular  design.  At  the  ends  of  the  transepts  are 
two  original  galleries,  level  with  the  triforium,  supported  on 
round-headed  arches. 

The  choir  of  three  bays  is  the  work  of  Bishop  Hotham. 
The  last  six  bays  are  the  work  of  Bishop  Northwold,  and 
form  the  presbytery.  In  the  present  arrangement  seven  of 
these  nine  bays  form  the  ritual  choir,  and  two  form  the 
retro-choir.  The  difference  in  date  between  the  presby- 
tery and  choir  may  be  roughly  taken  as  very  nearly  a  hun- 
dred years.  The  former  had  been  begun  in  1240;  the 
latter  was  nearly  finished  in  1340.  In  the  juxtaposition  of 
these  two  magnificent  specimens  of  the  Early  English  and 
Decorated  periods  of  architecture  there  is  an  opportunity  of 
comparison  which  on  such  a  scale  occurs  nowhere  else. 

It  will  hardly  be  believed  that  the  magnificent  stalls 
which  were  formerly  ranged  in  the  octagon,  and  at  a 
later  period  in  the  presbytery,  were  once  painted  all  over 
with  a  mahogany  colour.  They  are  the  finest  Decorated 
stalls  in  England,  the  beautiful  ones  at  Winchester  being  of 
late  Thirteenth  Century  date.  The  carved  panels  in  the 
upper  parts  are  new,  and  are  gifts  of  individual  donors. 
They  were  executed  in  Belgium.  It  is  not  known  how 
these  spaces  were  originally  filled  ;  Mr.  le  Strange  thought 
possibly  with  heraldic  devices.  The  designs  on  the  south 
are  from  the  New  Testament,  those  on  the  north  from  the 
Old  Testament.  The  seats  in  the  lower  range  are  modern, 
as  are  the  various  statuettes  at  the  stall  ends  which  repre- 
sent the  builders  of  the  most  important  parts  of  the  fabric. 
On  the  misereres  of  the  ancient  stalls  are  some  wonder- 
ful grotesque  carvings.     The  brass  eagle  lectern  has  been 


74  ELY  CATHEDRAL 

copied,  as  to  its  main  features,  from  an  ancient  example  at 
Isleham.  The  organ  is  in  the  triforium,  on  the  north,  and 
part  of  the  case  projects  over  the  easternmost  arch  of  the 
choir. 

The  Lady  Chapel. — Notwithstanding  the  cruel  mutilations 
of  the  sculpture  all  round  this  chapel,  it  can  be  seen  that 
for  perfection  of  exquisite  work  there  is  no  building  of  the 
size  in  this  country  worthy  for  one  moment  to  be  com- 
pared with  this  in  its  unmutilated  state.  Its  single  defect 
strikes  the  beholder  at  once ;  the  span  of  the  roof  is  too 
broad  and  the  vaulting  too  depressed  for  the  size  of  the 
chapel.  The  windows  on  the  north  have  been  restored. 
The  end  windows,  which  are  of  great  size,  are  of  later 
date;  that  to  the  east  has  a  look  of  Transition  work  about 
it.  The  building  was  finished  in  1349,  and  the  east  win- 
dow was  inserted  by  Bishop  Barnet,  circa  1373. 

At  the  east  end  of  the  aisle  is  the  Chapel  of  Bishop 
Alcock  {d.  1500).  The  sides  of  the  chapel  are  covered 
with  niches,  canopies,  crockets,  panels  and  devices.  The 
roof  has  fan-tracery  with  a  massive  pendant.  A  singular 
little  chantry  is  at  the  north,  access  to  which  is  through  a 
door  at  the  foot  of  the  bishop's  tomb.  In  a  small  window 
here  is  a  little  contemporary  stained  glass.  The  bishop's 
rebus — a  cock  on  a  globe — repeatedly  occurs  in  the  stone- 
work. The  ornamentation  strikes  the  spectator  as  being 
excessive  and  too  profuse. 

Corresponding  to  the  chapel  of  Bishop  Alcock  on  the 
north  is  that  of  Bishop  West  {d.  1533)  in  the  south  aisle. 
This  is  a  most  valuable  example  of  the  Renaissance  style. 
The  niches  and  canopies  with  which  the  walls  are  covered 
are  much  smaller  than  those  in  the  other  chapel,  and  con- 
sequently more  numerous;  but  by  reason  of  the  great  deli- 


ELY  CATHEDRAL  75 

cacy  of  the  tracery  and  the  wonderful  variety  of  the  designs 
there  is  no  impression  that  the  decoration  is  overdone. 

It  would  require  a  book  to  itself  to  treat  exhaustively  of 
the  stained  glass  in  the  windows.  In  nearly  all  cases,  cer- 
tainly in  those  which  can  be  examined  without  the  aid  of  a 
glass,  the  names  of  the  donors,  or  of  the  persons  to  whose 
memory  the  windows  were  inserted,  are  plainly  set  forth 
either  in  the  windows  or  on  brass  tablets  adjoining. 


STRASSBURG  CATHEDRAL 

DR.  JULIUS  EUTING 

TOGETHER  with  the  Cologne  Cathedral,  the  Minster 
of  Strassburg  ranks  as  the  noblest  creation  of 
Mediaeval  architecture  existing  in  Germany.  Whilst  the 
former,  however,  has  come  down  to  us  a  fragment  and  has 
only  been  completed  in  our  days  in  uniform  Gothic  style 
■ — thanks  to  the  luckily  discovered  original  plan — the  Strass- 
burg Cathedral,  on  the  other  hand,  has  existed  for  now  nearly 
five  centuries  as  a  completed  work,  in  which  every  epoch 
of  Mediaeval  architecture  from  the  earliest  Roman  style  to 
the  last  remnants  of  the  later  Gothic  is  represented. 
"  Each  period,"  as  Woltmann  says,  "  has  left  its  traces, 
each  leans  with  an  historical  title  on  the  preceding  one. 
Centuries  speak  a  distinct  language  in  the  work  which  they 
have  brought  forth,  and  what  is  defective  in  architectural 
unison  is  counterbalanced  by  its  irresistible  picturesque 
charm."  In  fact,  it  is  owing  to  its  variety  that  the 
Strassburg  Cathedral  so  far  supersedes  other  edifices  of  its 
kind:  the  great  and  powerful  proportions  of  the  old 
Romanesque  style  (transept  and  choir) ;  the  stern  beauty  and 
the  harmonious  proportions  of  the  nave,  which  belongs  to 
the  florescence  of  the  Gothic  style  (middle  cf  the  Thirteenth 
Century) ;  the  rich  forms  of  the  tower  and  the  facade  with 
their  artistic  fretwork  and  cornices ;  and  the  lofty  spire, 
which,  if  even  exhibiting  somewhat  degenerate  forms,  has 
nevertheless  been  prized  as  one  of  the  "  wonders  of  the 
world,"  as  a  unique  work  of  human  skill — indeed  every- 


STRASSEURG  CATHEDRAL  ']'] 

thing  combines  to  fill  the  observ^er  with  admiration  and 
wonder. 

The  overwhelming  impression  is  still  heightened  by  the 
splendid  material  out  of  which  the  Cathedral  is  built,  the  red 
sandstone  of  the  Vosges,  which  owing  to  its  durability  pre- 
serves even  to  this  day  the  finest  carvings  as  if  they  had  but 
just  left  the  sculptor's  hands,  and,  by  its  dark  and  warm 
tint,  enhances  the  venerable  aspect  of  the  enormous  edifice. 

Special  attention  should  be  drawn  to  the  two  round- 
arched  windows  with  deep  and  perfectly  smooth  protrusions 
in  the  southern  arm  of  the  transept  (opposite  the  clock). 
They  are  the  oldest  windows  in  the  whole  Cathedral,  and 
belong  surely  to  the  construction  previous  to  the  fire  of  1 176. 

The  Romanesque  structure  (i  176-1245),  of  which  the 
western  half  of  the  crypt,  the  St.  Andreas  and  St.  John's 
Chapels,  the  choir,  transept  and  arms  of  the  transept  are 
still  preserved,  was,  after  the  last  fire  of  11 76,  after  short 
struggles  of  the  transition  style,  continued  in  the  purely 
Gothic  style  in  the  nave  (i 252-1 275)  and  in  the  west  front 
(1277-1365).  The  northern  tower,  the  landmark  of  Strass- 
burg  for  miles,  was  completed  in  1439. 

In  the  year  1205  mention  is  for  the  first  time  made  of  an 
architect's  o^CQ^fabrica  eccleslts  Argentinenses.  In  a  record 
of  the  year  1284,  Master  Heinrich  Wehelin,  the  pay- 
master, and  Master  Erwin  are  named.  Later  architects 
were  :  Gerlach  (1341-1371),  Kuntze  (1372),  Ulrich  von 
Ensingen  (1399-1419)  the  architect  of  the  spire,  Joh. 
Hiiltz  of  Cologne  (1419-1449),  and  Matthew  von  Ensingen 
(1450). 

The  third  new  erection  (i  176-1275)  belongs  to  the  time 
of  the  great  revolution  of  German  architectural  art,  to  the 
transition  from  the  Romanesque  to  the  Gothic  style,  which 


7^  STRASSBURG  CATHEDRAL 

perhaps  cannot  be  traced  in  any  church  so  well  as  in 
the  Strassburg  Minster.  The  transept  of  immense  pro- 
portions shows  us  in  its  Roman  portals  (the  one  on  the 
north  side  is  partly  covered  by  a  late  Gothic  portal)  and  in 
the  three  massive  round  pillars  the  stern  grandeur  of  the 
Romanesque  style,  but  the  fourth  pillar,  the  famous  Engels- 
pfeiler^  of  which  the  nucleus  is  square,  with  the  four  stouter 
and  the  four  weaker  shafts  ascending  from  it,  is  exclusively 
Gothic.  Besides  this,  it  can  be  easily  perceived  that  both 
the  walls  of  the  transept  on  the  side  of  the  nave  were  for 
some  time  interrupted  in  their  erection  and  were  finished  at 
a  later  period  in  a  different  style.  The  supports  which 
arise  on  the  walls  have  been  in  many  places  left  unfinished 
and  were  continued  at  a  later  period  in  more  graceful  forms. 

The  chronicler  Twinger  of  Konigshofen  says  that  on  the 
25th  of  May,  1277,  the  facade  and  towers  were  com- 
menced,— the  part  of  the  Minster  with  which  the  genius  of 
Erwin  von  Steinbach,  who  was  perhaps  the  greatest 
architect  of  the  Middle  Ages,  is  chiefly  concerned. 

The  facade  betrays  the  influence  of  French  architecture 
and  bears  such  remarkable  resemblance  to  the  facade  of 
Notre  Dame  of  Paris,  that  it  is  very  probable  that  Erwin 
made  his  studies  there.  Like  Notre  Dame,  it  contains  three 
stories  separated  by  galleries  whose  horizontal  projections  are 
somewhat  softened  by  the  free  and  neat  fretwork  and  cornices 
rising  vertically  from  the  ground  to  the  platform,  as  well  as 
by  the  right-angled  flying  buttresses.  This  fretwork  which 
covers  the  whole  of  the  facade  in  equal  distances  of  two  feet, 
like  ivy,  is  due  to  the  genius  of  Erwin,  and  has  not  been 
superseded  in  any  epoch  for  the  gracefulness  of  its  orna- 
ments. Erwin  superintended  the  work  as  far  as  the  second 
story  goes,  including   the   magnificent  rose  window  (forty- 


STRASSBURG  CATHEDRAL  79 

four  feet  in  diameter).  The  ingenious  master  died  on  17th 
January,  13 18. 

The  towers  ought  to  have  been  commenced  after  his 
plan  from  the  second  story,  but  were  connected  by  the 
clumsy  central  building  to  the  three-storied  high  facade. 
The  harmonious  proportions  of  Erwin  had  thus  been  ex- 
ceeded ;  and  were  carried  to  still  greater  excess  when  Mag- 
ister  Joh.  Hiiltz  of  Cologne,  in  completing  the  tower, 
raised  the  height  of  the  octagon  during  its  erection,  crown- 
ing it  by  the  high  late-Gothic  cupola.  Therefore  instead 
of  Erwin's  plan,  a  totally  different  work  has  been  produced. 
But,  however  this  may  be,  this  immensely  high  tower  has 
made  a  powerful  impression  on  all  generations.  Pope 
JEneas  Sylvius  spoke  of  it  as  a  work  that  buried  its  head 
in  the  clouds. 

The  three  portals  on  the  west  front  (the  central  one  has 
been  furnished  with  new  bronze  doors  in  place  of  the  old 
ones  melted  down  during  the  French  Revolution)  have  note- 
worthy representations  of  the  history  of  the  Creation  and 
Redemption.  The  large  statues  by  the  portals  on  the  north 
(left)  side  represent  the  strife  between  Virtue  and  Vice ;  as  a 
sort  of  pendant  to  it  is  represented  on  the  portals  of  the 
south  (right)  side  the  figures  of  the  Wise  and  Foolish 
Virgins  ;  to  the  left  of  the  door  the  Tempter  as  a  noble 
cavalier;  on  the  right,  the  Bridegroom.  Above  the  centre 
door  sits,  within  the  open  gable.  King  Solomon  ;  at  his  side, 
as  his  guards,  stand  the  lions  on  pedestals;  above  the  whole, 
sits  Mary  with  the  Child. 

The  Apostles  (of  whom  there  are  only  eleven),  just  above 
the  rose  window,  are  additions  which  do  not  belong  to  the 
original  plan.  Around  the  towers,  below  the  first  story, 
runs  a  frieze  representing  the  human  passions. 


80  STRASSBURG  CATHEDRAL 

The  north  portal  of  the  transept,  originally  conceived  in 
the  Romanesque  style,  contains  now  the  late  Gothic  Laur- 
entius  chapel  (1495-1505).  The  sculpture  of  the  Lauren- 
tius  portal,  in  the  late  Gothic  style  and  of  masterly  execu- 
tion, represents  the  death  of  the  martyr  Laurentius. 

At  the  Romanesque  portal  (south  side  of  the  transept) 
there  worked  a  female  sculptor,  the  celebrated  Sabina, 
wrongly  called  the  daughter  of  Erwin.  Unfortunately,  the 
statue  sculptured  by  her  was  destroyed  by  the  French  revo- 
lutionists. 

Above  the  doors  are  the  Coronation  and  Death  of  Mary 
(renewed)  between  the  statue  of  Solomon.  The  statues  to  the 
right  and  left  represent  Christianity  and  Judaism,  and  may 
be  fairly  considered  as  belonging  to  the  highest  achieve- 
ments of  Mediaeval  sculpture.  The  statues  of  Erwin  and 
of  Sabina,  midway  on  the  steps,  are  modern,  and  were  sculp- 
tured by  Grass  in  1840. 

The  interior,  380  feet  long  and  135  feet  broad,  con- 
tains a  three  arched  lobby,  a  triple  aisled  nave  with  seven 
arches,  a  double-aisled  transept  and  dome,  behind  a  short 
choir  and  a  few  projecting  chapels,  and  is  adorned  in  its  en- 
tire length  with  beautiful  stained  glass  windows  dating 
from  the  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Centuries.  The  central 
aisle  of  the  nave  prior  to  1682  was  separated  from  the  dome 
and  the  choir  by  a  lobby,  i.  e.,  a  choir-lobby  and  the  Mary- 
chapel  (which  was  built  adjacent  to  it),  is  ninety-six  feet 
high  and  forty-eight  feet  broad,  and  contains  the  organ  and  the 
beautiful  Gothic  pulpit  (by  Hammerer,  1485).  Inside,  be- 
low the  windows,  the  triforium  corresponds  to  the  archway 
outside.  At  the  back  is  the  entrance  to  the  subterranean 
crypt  dating  from  the  Eleventh  or  Twelfth  Century. 

From  this  some  stairs  lead  lower  down  about  nine  feet  or 


STRASSBURG  CATHEDRAL  61 

SO  to  the  foundations.  The  aisle  on  the  north  (left)  side 
contains  the  Martinschapel  and  the  Laurentiuschapel.  By 
the  side  of  the  vestry  (formerly  Laurentiuschapel)  is  a 
wonderful  wailed  up  old  Romanesque  portal  (formerly  the 
entrance  to  the  friars'  house). 

If  there  is  a  statue  of  Erwin  in  existence,  it  is  the  one 
close  to  the  monument  of  the  Bishop  of  Lichtenberg  in  the 
St.  John's  Chapel,  and  without  doubt  made  by  Erwin  him- 
self. Next  to  the  pillar  by  the  window  is  a  tiny  man 
dressed  in  loose  garments  and  a  hood,  and  in  this  figure  the 
master  has  probably  given  himself  a  modest  monument. 

To  the  right  of  the  choir  is  the  Andreas  Chapel  (Eleventh 
to  Twelfth  Century)  containing  the  vault  of  Bishop  Henry  I. 
(died  1 190)  and  some  old  stained  glass  windows,  several  of 
which  have  been  taken  from  the  Temple  Neuf  and  some 
from  Molsheim. 

The  choir  contains  a  stained  window  (bearing  the  arms 
of  the  town)  and  was  a  few  years  ago  adorned  with  the  beau- 
tiful frescoes  of  Prof.  E.  Steinle  of  Frankfort-on-the-Main. 
The  Last  Day  of  Judgment,  however,  in  the  nave  (by 
Steinheil  of  Paris),  with  its  tasteless  mixture  of  colours,  is  of 
more  questionable  value. 

After  the  town-council  had  introduced  the  Reformation 
in  1525,  the  Cathedral  was  given  over  to  Protestant  worship  ; 
but  was  handed  back  to  the  Roman  Catholics  in  168 1,  al- 
though there  were  at  that  time  only  two  Catholic  families 
residing  at  Strassburg.  Unfortunately,  the  following  period 
introduced  many  barbaric  adornments  which  were  only  done 
away  with  by  degrees. 

The  paintings  in  the  interior  are  not  of  great  value,  but 
the  Gobelin  tapestries  and  the  cups,  which  are  shown  in  the 
Cathedral  during  the  feast  of  Corpus  Christi,  are  magnificent. 


82  STRASSBURG  CATHEDRAL 

As  far  back  as  the  year  1352  may  be  traced  the  existence 
of  a  celebrated  astronomical  clock  in  the  Strassburg  Cathe- 
dral. It  was  begun  under  Bishop  Berthold  von  Bucheck 
and  finished  two  years  later  under  Bishop  Johann  von  Lich- 
tenberg.  Its  place  was  at  the  western  wall  opposite  to  the 
present  one.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Sixteenth  Century, 
this  skilful  mechanism  ceased  to  work.  In  the  year  1547 
the  magistrate  of  the  free  imperial  city  ordered  therefore  that 
a  new  astronomical  clock  should  be  constructed  and  placed 
opposite  the  old  one  in  the  Cathedral.  For  the  third  time 
the  municipality  of  Strassburg  decided,  in  1836,  that  anew 
astronomical  clock  should  be  placed  in  the  framework  of 
the  old  one,  and  entrusted  Mr.  Schwilgue,  a  watchmaker  of 
Strassburg,  with  the  task.  The  latter  completed  it  within  the 
space  of  four  years,  and  his  work  may  be  justly  said  to  be 
unique.  The  twelve  Apostles  were  added  by  Schwilgue. 
The  first  stroke  of  each  quarter  is  struck  by  one  of  the  little 
angels  seated  above  the  perpetual  calendar,  the  second  stroke 
of  each  quarter  by  the  four  ages  alternately :  Childhood 
striking  the  first  quarter;  Youth,  the  second;  Manhood,  the 
third  ;  and  Old  Age,  the  last.  Death  strikes  the  hours  while 
the  second  of  these  angels  turns  round  the  hour-glass  he 
holds  in  his  hands.  At  the  stroke  of  twelve,  the  twelve 
Apostles  pass  before  Christ  bowing  before  Him  ;  the  Saviour 
blesses  them  by  raising  His  hand  whilst  the  cock  crows  and 
flaps  his  wings  three  times.  The  cock  is  the  true  historical 
feature  of  the  wonderful  work ;  it  has  been  faithfully  re- 
tained since  the  Fourteenth  Century,  during  the  various 
renovations,  and  has  thus  daily  amused  and  astonished  the 
generations  of  five  centuries. 


SENS  CATHEDRAL 

L.  CLOQUET 

FOR  twenty  years,  St.  Savinian  and  St.  Potentian,  two 
of  the  seventy-two  disciples  of  Christ,  had  worked 
at  the  conversion  of  Sens  when  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  were 
put  to  death  by  Nero's  orders.  According  to  the  legend, 
on  the  night  following  their  martyrdom,  they  appeared  to 
St.  Savinian ;  and,  at  their  command,  he  built  the  first 
church  that  was  erected  to  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles.  It 
became  celebrated  in  Gaul  under  the  name  of  St.  Peter  the 
Living.  Savinian  afterwards  built  three  churches  in  the 
city  to  the  Mother  of  God,  St.  John  the  Baptist,  and  St. 
Stephen  the  Martyr.  But  these  churches  adjoined,  and  so 
it  came  to  pass  that  that  last,  which  was  the  central  one, 
absorbed  the  two  others  and  became  the  Cathedral  church. 
It  was  several  times  rebuilt,  notably  about  977  by  St.  Anas- 
tasius.  Burnt  in  1184,  Philip  Augustus  enlarged  it  and  en- 
riched it  with  the  south  tower,  later  called  the  Lead  Tower. 
Long  afterwards,  Pierre  de  Charny  undertook  to  raise  it 
again  from  its  ruins,  and  the  archbishop  Salazar  built  the 
Stone  Tower,  that  on  the  north,  up  to  the  lantern.  It  fell 
in  1267,  and  was  not  crowned  with  its  lantern  till  1537, 
under  Cardinal  Duprat.  The  spire  of  the  Lead  Tower, 
which  threatened  to  fall  in  1844,  was  taken  down.  These 
two  towers,  and  the  facade,  properly  so  called,  that  sepa- 
rates them,  form  three  equivalent  vertical  zones,  of  three 


84  SENS  CATHEDRAL 

different  styles,  which,  nevertheless,  make  an  almost  harmo- 
nious whole. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  Cathedral  of  Sens  may  be  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  France  ;  be  that  as  it 
may,  it  is  a  building  of  imposing  grandeur,  and  intense  in- 
terest. 

The  principal  part  of  the  present  edifice  was  begun  in 
1 140,  at  the  same  time  as  St.  Denis,  Suger's  Gothic  church, 
but  was  built  more  slowly.  The  church  of  Sens  is  con- 
sidered to  be  the  earliest  in  date  of  the  cathedrals  in  the 
Gothic  style.  Unfortunately  it  is  not  of  an  irreproach- 
able unity. 

The  plan  shows  an  improved  amplification  of  that  of 
Poissy :  transepts  furnished  with  apses,  a  terminal  chapel 
in  the  form  of  a  cross,  and  an  ambulatory  with  very  wide 
crossings  are  the  striking  features  of  this  curious  monument. 
The  round  Norman  arch  here  still  struggles  with  the 
pointed  arch,  and  yields  the  field  to  it.  The  disparity  of 
the  styles  impresses  itself  from  the  very  entrance.  The 
transitional  Roman  style  appears  in  the  nave  and  in  the 
choir  ;  the  aisles  of  the  sanctuary  are  work  of  the  Fifteenth 
Century,  the  transepts  of  the  Tenth,  a  great  part  of  the 
naves  of  the  beginning  of  the  Thirteenth,  and  a  portion  of 
the  central  nave,  Renaissance.  Ten  chapels  surround  the 
naves,  and  ten  others  radiate  from  the  chancel.  The 
transept  was  enlarged  at  the  end  of  the  Fifteenth  Century. 
The  vault  of  the  great  nave  is  still  standing  on  its  square  plan, 
which  does  not  prevent  the  flying-buttresses  being  repro- 
duced identically  at  each  little  arch.  Here  occurs  the  sup- 
pression of  high  clerestory.  In  all  these  features  one  may 
see  how  interesting  the  building  is  for  study  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  genesis  of  the  Gothic  style. 


SENS  CATHEDRAL 


SENS  CATHEDRAL  85 

The  exterior  expresses  solidity  rather  than  elegance : 
narrow  windows,  heavy  buttresses,  massive  walls.  Of  its 
rich  Gothic  statuary,  there  still  remains  the  beautiful  statue 
of  St.  Stephen  attached  to  the  middle  shaft  of  the  central 
porch.  Let  us  also  mention  the  octagonal  campanile  of 
the  southwest  angle  j  the  southern  porch  with  its  great  side 
coloured  windows  representing  the  Resurrection  and  the 
Last  Judgment ;  and  the  north  porch,  that  rich  piece  of 
sculpture  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,  surmounted  by  a  beauti- 
ful rose  window.  The  principal  dimensions  are  one  hundred 
and  eleven  metres  long  and  twenty-four  high. 

With  regard  to  the  details,  floral  Romanesque  rules  in 
the  naves  and  choir ;  Gothic,  already  decadent,  in  the 
transept.  This  annoying  mixture  of  diverse  elements  of 
architecture  is  augmented  by  Thirteenth  and  Sixteenth 
Century  windows  (some  of  them  attributed  to  Jean  Cousin) 
and  exquisite  carvings,  particularly  on  the  principal  facade, 
and  by  the  grand  rose  windows  in  the  porches  of  St. 
Abraham  and  St.  Stephen.  In  1742,  the  Florentine 
Servandoni  constructed  over  the  high  altar  a  marble 
baldaquin  of  Classic  forms. 

Unfortunately,  in  1765,  the  Chapter  did  away  with  the 
labyrinth  that  ornamented  the  pavement  of  the  nave,  which 
had  become,  instead  of  a  means  for  gaining  indulgences,  a 
subject  of  amusement  for  the  children,  a  sort  of  game  of 
hopscotch.  It  was  made  of  lead  let  into  the  white  stone. 
It  had  a  diameter  of  thirty  feet,  and  it  required  two  thousand 
steps  to  go  entirely  through  it,  a  task  which  could  be  ac- 
complished in  an  hour. 

Of  the  thirteen  chapels  that  the  Fourteenth  Century  gave 
to  the  Cathedral  of  Sens,  four  only  still  exist.  Fifty  years 
ago,   in   spite   of  vigorous   protests,  all   the  chapels  of  the 


86  SENS  CATHEDRAL 

aisles  of  the  nave  were  pitilessly  demolished  to  be  replaced 
by  the  strange  constructions  that  are  now  there.  Con- 
siderable sums  were  devoted  to  this  deplorable  operation. 
The  treasury  of  Sens  is  one  of  the  richest  in  France. 
A  famous  Fifteenth  Century  monument  of  the  Cathedral 
with  beautiful  carving  standing  against  the  third  column  on 
the  north  side  is  called  the  Salazar  Altar.  It  is  all  that  re- 
mains of  a  mausoleum',  partly  destroyed,  due  to  the  filial 
piety  of  the  Archbishop  Tristan  de  Salazar. 


DURHAM  CATHEDRAL 
CANON  TALBOT 

THE  romance  of  this  great  Cathedral  of  the  north  may 
be  said  to  begin,  as  far  as  the  visitor  of  to-day  is 
concerned,  with  the  impression  which  its  enormous  pro- 
portions make  as  he  stands  on  Framwellgate  Bridge.  From 
the  banks  of  the  Wear  he  looks  up  at  a  steep  cliff  to  where 
that  great  pile  crowns  the  height  "  half  house  of  God,  half 
castle  'gainst  the  Scot."  On  the  edge  of  the  same  cliff, 
and  on  a  level  with  the  Cathedral,  frowns  the  companion 
castle.  The  river  Wear  almost  encircling  the  hill  on  which 
both  Cathedral  and  castle  stand  is  the  completion  which 
nature  has  given  to  a  position  of  unequalled  security. 

The  origin  of  the  Cathedral  connects  itself  with  the 
character  of  the  great  St.  Cuthbert,  the  saintly  Bishop  of 
Lindisfarne.  Two  hundred  years  passed  away  and  the 
body  of  the  Saint  rested  quietly  in  Lindisfarne.  But  in 
875  the  Danes  were  fiercely  ravaging  Northumbria,  and  in 
consternation  at  their  approach  the  inhabitants  of  Holy 
Island  fled  with  the  precious  body,  and  it  found,  for  the 
time  being,  a  resting-place  in  Chester-le-Street,  half-way 
between  Newcastle  and  Durham.  A  century  later  in  995 
the  body  was  transferred  to  Durham  and  with  it  the  seat  of 
the  northern  bishopric. 

The  visitor  to  Durham  Cathedral  will  notice  in  a  niche 
on  the  north  wall  of  the  building  the  sculpture  of  the  fa- 
mous Dun  Cow.     The  present  sculpture  is  a  modern  re- 


88  DURHAM  CATHEDRAL 

production  of  a  more  ancient  work.  This  curious  sculp- 
ture commemorates  the  legend  which  connects  itself  with 
the  choice  of  this  site  for  the  final  resting-place  of  St. 
Cuthbert's  remains.  The  legend  runs  that  after  the  re- 
moval from  Chester-le-Street,  St.  Cuthbert  announced  in  a 
vision  his  determination  to  rest  at  Dun-holm.  The  place 
was  unknown  ;  but  whilst  the  monks  were  wander- 
ing in  search  of  it,  a  woman  was  heard  asking  another  if 
she  had  seen  her  cow  that  had  strayed  and  the  answer  was, 
"It's  down  in  Dun-holm."  Dun-holm  signifies  the  hill- 
meadow  and  Durham  is  its  modern  equivalent.  It  was, 
indeed,  nothing  but  a  rough  field  which  the  bearers  of  St. 
Cuthbert's  body  found  when  they  arrived  from  Chester-le- 
Street. 

William  of  St.  Carileph  (1081-1096),  in  1083,  gathered 
together  at  Durham  the  Benedictine  monks  previously  lo- 
cated at  Wearmouth  and  at  Jarrow.  Ten  years  later 
Carileph  commenced  the  present  lordly  structure,  one  of 
the  grandest  specimens  of  the  massive  Norman  architec- 
ture which  can  be  found  anywhere.  By  the  time  of  Cari- 
leph's  death  only  'the  choir  had  been  completed.  Four 
years  elapsed  before  the  appointment  of  another  Bishop, 
but  during  those  four  years  the  monks  themselves  worked 
at  the  transepts.  The  next  Bishop,  Ralph  Flambard 
(1099-1 128),  completed  the  nave.  In  the  year  1 104  the 
body  of  St.  Cuthbert  was  brought  to  its  final  resting-place 
and  laid  behind  the  altar.  In  quick  succession  subsequent 
prelates  completed  the  adjuncts  of  the  Cathedral  and  the 
extensive  monastic  buildings  which  occupied  the  south  side 
of  the  church. 

The  north  entrance  door  tells  an  interesting  tale.  The 
present  door  is  a  modern  restoration,  and  some  of  the  orig- 


DURHAM  CATHEDRAL  89 

inal  features  of  the  famous  entrance  have  been  obliterated. 
Towards  this  door  many  a  poor  wretch  hastening  to  escape 
the  hands  of  the  avenger  has  sped  his  fearful  steps  in  days 
gone  by.  Attached  to  the  door  still  glares  a  fearful-looking 
metallic  head  holding  a  ring  in  its  mouth.  In  its  now  eye- 
less sockets  were  once  in  all  probability  balls  of  crystal  or 
enamel.  When  once  the  ring  was  grasped  by  the  hand  of 
the  fugitive  he  was  safe.  He  had  claimed  the  "  peace  "  of 
St.  Cuthbert  and  the  sanctity  of  the  neighbouring  shrine 
shielded  him.  Above  the  door  by  day  and  night  watched 
relays  of  monks  to  admit  those  who  claimed  sanctuary.  So 
soon  as  ever  the  fugitive  had  reached  the  door  he  was  ad- 
mitted. This  done  he  had  to  confess  the  crime  of  which 
he  was  guilty,  and  his  statement  was  taken  down  in  writ- 
ing. All  the  while  a  bell  was  tolling  to  give  notice  that 
some  one  had  taken  refuge  in  the  church.  Then  the  cul- 
prit was  arrayed  in  a  black  gown  with  a  yellow  cross  on 
the  left  shoulder,  and  remained  within  the  precincts  for 
thirty-seven  days.  If  at  the  end  of  that  time  he  could  not 
obtain  a  pardon  of  the  civil  authorities,  he  was  conveyed 
across  the  seas  to  begin  life  elsewhere. 

As  we  pass  within  we  find  ourselves  in  full  sight  of  the 
imposing  interior,  which,  including  the  Galilee  Chapel, 
measures  461  feet  in  length.  The  uniform  character  of 
the  architecture  and  its  enormous  solidity  produces  the 
feeling,  so  well  expressed  by  Dr.  Johnson,  of  "  rocky  solid- 
ity and  indeterminate  duration."  The  whole  extent  of  the 
Cathedral  can  now  be  seen  from  the  west  end,  but  before 
the  Reformation  a  series  of  screens  divided  the  eastern  or 
choir  portion  from  the  nave.  The  choir  was  then  the 
church  of  the  monks  and  the  nave  the  church  of  the  peo- 
ple.    At   that  time  in   front  of  the  choir  screen  stood  the 


90  DURHAM  CATHEDRAL 

Jesus  Altar,  having  painted  above  it  on  the  screen  carved 
figures  descriptive  of  the  Life  and  Passion  of  our  Lord  ; 
above  again  were  figures  of  the  Apostles.  This,  of  course, 
has  been  removed  long  since,  and  lately  in  its  place  has 
been  erected  a  modern  screen,  which  in  no  way  impedes 
either  sight  or  sound.  The  choir  itself  apart  from  the 
beauty  of  its  architecture,  contains  many  objects  of  interest. 

The  most  noticeable  feature  is  the  great  screen  behind 
the  altar,  called  the  Neville  Screen,  on  account  of  its  ex- 
pense being  in  a  large  measure  borne  by  Lord  Neville  of 
Raby.  The  screen  was  erected  in  1380.  The  prior  of 
the  day  employed  at  his  own  expense  seven  masons  for 
nearly  a  year  to  fix  the  screen,  the  execution  of  which  is 
supposed  to  have  been  the  fruit  of  the  labours  of  French 
artists.  The  screen  originally  was  much  more  elaborate 
than  at  present,  being  covered  with  rich  colour  and  every 
niche  filled  with  sculptured  figures,  but  even  now  its  pres- 
ent appearance  is  graceful.  On  the  south  side  of  the  choir 
lies  the  body  of  Bishop  Hatfield.  The  Bishop's  effigy, 
fully  vested,  lies  upon  an  altar  tomb  beneath  a  canopy,  and 
above  rises  the  episcopal  throne  which  he  himself  designed. 
The  throne  is  lofty  and  imposing,  and  ascended  by  a  flight 
of  stairs.  At  the  back  of  the  throne  rich  tabernacle  work 
fills  in  the  space  of  the  choir  arch. 

Behind  the  altar  is  the  great  eastern  transept,  which  goes 
by  the  name  of  the  Nine  Altars.  The  architecture  here  is 
in  striking  contrast  to  that  of  the  choir  and  nave,  being  a 
magnificent  specimen  of  early  English  architecture  of  the 
Thirteenth  Century. 

The  most  interesting  feature  of  this  part  of  the  Cathedral 
is  the  lofty  platform  which  adjoins  the  back  of  the  altar, 
and  wherein  lies  the  body  of  St.  Cuthbert.     The  platform 


DURHAM  CATHEDRAL  9 1 

Is  approached  from  two  doors  on  the  side  of  the  altar  and 
the  much  worn  pavement  gives  witness  to  the  number  of 
pilgrims  who  from  time  to  time  have  visited  the  spot. 

The  Galilee  Chapel  must  not  be  omitted  in  a  description 
of  the  church.  It  was  designed  for  the  sake  and  for  the 
use  of  the  women  who  wished  to  worship  in  the  church. 
Its  name  of  Galilee  has  probably  some  reference  to  Galilee 
of  the  Gentiles  and  implies  that  it  was  considered  less 
sacred  than  the  rest  of  the  Cathedral.  St.  Cuthbert  had  a 
more  than  monkish  fear  of  women,  and  they  were  not  al- 
lowed to  approach  the  shrine.  A  cross  let  into  the  pave- 
ment of  the  nave  at  the  far  west  end  curiously  marks  the 
far-removed  spot  nearer  than  which  women  might  not  ap- 
proach. The  prejudices  of  the  good  saint  were  thus  per- 
petuated long  after  his  death. 

The  whole  effect  is  light  and  graceful,  and  if  the  women 
were  not  allowed  to  enter  farther  than  the  western  extremity 
of  the  church,  they  certainly  had  a  most  beautiful  place  of 
worship.  The  most  interesting  monument  here  is  the  plain 
altar  slab  which  marks  the  burial-place  of  the  great  North- 
umbrian scholar.  On  the  tomb  are  engraved  the  well- 
known  words,  Hac  sunt  in  fossa  Bedts  Venerabil'is  ossa  (In 
this  grave  lie  the  bones  of  the  Venerable  Bede).  Accord- 
ing to  the  old  legend  the  monk,  who  was  casting  about  for 
a  word  to  complete  the  scansion  of  his  line  between  Bedce 
and  ossa^  left  a  space  blank  until  he  could  in  the  morning 
return  to  his  task  with  a  mind  refreshed.  However,  dur- 
ing the  night  an  unknown  hand  added  the  metrically  suit- 
able Venerahilh.  This,  according  to  the  legend,  is  the  origin 
of  the  peculiar  preface  Venerable,  always  associated  with 
the  name  of  Bede. 

We   must   not   forget   that   Durham   Cathedral  was   the 


92  DURHAM  CATHEDRAL 

church  of  a  great  monastic  house  until  the  Reformation. 
The  whole  fabric  was  cared  for  with  infinite  pains  by  the 
monks  and  in  some  measure  was  actually  built  by  them. 
Closely  attached  to  the  Cathedral  on  its  south  side  are  the 
remains  of  the  monastery,  which  show  one  what  a  large 
community  once  lived  under  the  shadow  of  the  church. 
The  cloisters  raise  up  many  thoughts  of  the  busy  stream  of 
life  which  in  the  days  of  the  old  order  must  have  flowed 
through  them. 


AIX-LA-CHAPELLE  CATHEDRAL 

VICTOR  HUGO 

FOR  an  invalid  Aix-la-Chapelle  is  a  mineral  fountain — 
warm,  cold,  irony  and  sulphurous ;  for  the  tourist,  it 
is  a  place  of  outings  and  concerts ;  for  the  pilgrim,  it  is  a 
place  of  relics,  where  the  gown  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  the 
blood  of  Jesus,  and  the  cloth  which  enveloped  the  head  of 
John  the  Baptist  after  his  decapitation,  are  exhibited  every 
seven  years  ;  for  the  antiquarian,  it  is  a  noble  abbey  of  nuns 
connected  with  the  monastery  which  was  built  by  Saint 
Gregory,  son  of  Nicephorus,  Emperor  of  the  East ;  for  the 
hunter  it  is  the  ancient  valley  of  the  wild  boars ;  for  the 
merchant  it  is  a  manufactory  of  cloth,  needles  and  pins } 
and  for  him  who  is  no  merchant,  hunter,  antiquary,  pilgrim, 
tourist,  or  invalid,  it  is  the  city  of  Charlemagne. 

Charlemagne  was  born  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  and  died  there. 
He  was  born  in  the  old  palace,  of  which  there  now  only  re- 
mains the  tower,  and  he  was  buried  in  the  church  that  he 
founded  in  796,  two  years  after  the  death  of  his  wife 
Frastrada.  Leo  the  Third  consecrated  it  in  804  and  tradi- 
tion says  that  two  bishops  of  Tongres,  who  were  burled  at 
Maastricht,  arose  from  their  graves,  in  order  to  complete  at 
that  ceremony,  365  bishops  and  archbishops, — representing 
the  days  of  the  year. 

This  historical  and  legendary  church,  from  which  the 
town  has  taken  its  name,  has  undergone,  during  the  last 
thousand  years,  many  transformations. 


94  AIX-LA-CHAPELLE  CATHEDRAL 

As  soon  as  I  arrived  in  Aix  I  went  to  the  Chapelle. 

The  portal,  built  of  grey -blue  granite,  is  of  the  time  of 
Louis  XV.,  with  doors  of  the  Eighth  Century.  To  the 
right  of  the  portal  a  large  bronze  ball,  like  a  pineapple,  is 
placed  upon  a  granite  pillar ;  and  on  the  opposite  side,  on 
another  pillar  is  a  wolf,  of  the  same  metal,  which  is  half 
turned  towards  the  bystanders,  its  mouth  half  open  and  its 
teeth  displayed. 

On  approaching  the  Chapelle,  the  effect  is  not  striking ; 
the  facade  displays  different  styles  of  architecture — Roman, 
Gothic  and  modern, — without  order,  and  consequently, 
without  grandeur;  but,  if  on  the  contrary,  we  arrive  at  the 
chapel  by  the  apse,  the  result  is  otherwise.  The  high  apse 
of  the  Fourteenth  Century,  in  all  its  boldness  and  beauty, 
the  rich  workmanship  of  its  balustrades,  the  variety  of  its 
gargou,  the  sombre  hue  of  the  stones,  and  the  large  trans- 
parent windows — strike  the  beholder  with  admiration. 

Here,  nevertheless,  the  aspect  of  the  church — imposing 
though  it  is — will  be  found  far  from  uniform.  Between  the 
apse  and  the  portals,  in  a  kind  of  cavity,  the  dome  of 
Otho  III.,  built  over  the  tomb  of  Charlemagne,  in  the 
Tenth  Century,  is  hidden  from  view.  After  a  few  mo- 
ments' contemplation,  a  singular  awe  comes  over  us  when 
gazing  at  this  extraordinary  edifice — an  edifice,  which,  like 
the  great  work  that  Charlemagne  began,  remains  un- 
finished ;  and,  which,  like  his  empire  that  spoke  all  languages, 
is  composed  of  architecture  that  represents  all  styles.  To 
the  reflective  mind,  there  is  a  strange  analogy  between  that 
wonderful  man  and  this  great  building. 

After  having  passed  the  arched  roof  of  the  portico,  and 
left  behind  me  the  antique  bronze  doors  surmounted  with 
lions'  heads,  a  white  rotundo  of  two  stories,  in  which  all  the 


AIX-LA-CHAPELLE 


AIX.LA-CHAPELLE  CATHEDRAL  95 

fantasies  of  architecture  are  displayed,  attracted  my  atten- 
tion. Casting  my  eyes  upon  the  ground  I  saw  a  large 
block  of  black  marble  with  the  inscription  in  brass  letters  : — 

"  Carolo  Magna." 

Nothing  is  more  contemptible  than  the  bastard  graces 
that  surround  this  great  Carlovingian  name ;  angels  re- 
sembling distorted  Cupids,  palm-branches  like  coloured 
feathers,  garlands  of  flowers  and  knots  of  ribbons  are  placed 
under  the  dome  of  Otho  III.  and  upon  the  tomb  of 
Charlemagne. 

The  only  thing  here  that  evinces  respect  to  the  shade  of 
that  great  man  is  an  immense  lamp,  twelve  feet  in  diameter, 
with  forty-eight  burners,  which  was  presented  in  the  Twelfth 
Century  by  Barbarossa.  It  is  of  gilded  brass  in  the  form  of 
a  crown  and  is  suspended  from  the  ceiling  above  the  marble 
slab  by  an  iron  chain  about  seventy  feet  long. 

Charlemagne  is  no  longer  under  this  stone.  In  Ii66 
Frederick  Barbarossa — whose  gift,  magnificent  though  it  was, 
by  no  means  compensates  for  the  sacrilege — caused  the  re- 
mains of  the  great  Emperor  to  be  untombed.  The  Church 
claimed  the  imperial  skeleton,  and,  separating  the  bones, 
made  of  each  a  holy  relic. 

An  inspection  of  the  sacristy  has  a  strange  effect  upon 
the  antiquary.  Besides  the  skull  and  arm,  it  contains  the 
heart  of  Charlemagne  ;  the  cross  which  the  Emperor  had 
round  his  neck  in  his  tomb ;  a  handsome  monstrance  of 
the  Renaissance,  given  by  Charles  V.,  and  spoiled  in  the 
Eighteenth  Century  by  tasteless  ornaments  ;  fourteen  richly 
sculptured  gold  plates,  which  once  ornamented  the  arm- 
chair of  Charlemagne ;  a  monstrance  given  to  Philip  II. ; 
the  cord  which   bound  our  Saviour ;  the  sponge  that  was 


96  AIX-LA-CHAPELLE  CATHEDRAL 

used  when  He  was  on  the  Cross  ;  the  girdle  of  the  Holy 
Virgin  j  and  that  of  the  Redeemer. 

In  the  midst  of  innumerable  ornaments,  heaped  up  in  the 
armoury  like  mountains  of  gold  and  precious  stones  are  two 
shrines  of  singular  beauty.  One,  the  oldest,  which  is  sel- 
dom opened,  contains  the  remaining  bones  of  Charlemagne; 
and  the  other,  of  the  Twelfth  Century,  which  Frederick 
Barbarossa  gave  to  the  church,  holds  the  relics,  which  are 
exhibited  every  seven  years.  A  single  exhibition  of  this 
shrine,  in  1696,  attracted  42,000  pilgrims,  and  brought  in 
80,000  florins  in  ten  days. 

On  going  out  of  the  sacristy,  the  beadle  gave  orders  to 
one  of  the  menials,  a  Swiss,  to  show  me  the  interior  of  the 
Chapelle.  The  first  object  that  fixed  my  attention  was  the 
pulpit  presented  by  the  Emperor  Henry  H.,  which  is  ex- 
travagantly ornamented  and  gilt,  in  the  style  of  the  Eleventh 
Century.  To  the  right  of  the  altar,  the  heart  of  M.  Antoine 
Berdolet,  the  first  and  last  Bishop  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  is 
encased. 

In  a  dark  room  in  the  Chapelle,  my  conductor  opened 
another  armoury,  which  contained  the  sarcophagus  of 
Charlemagne.  It  is  a  magnificent  coffin  of  white  marble, 
upon  which  the  Rape  of  Proserpine  is  sculptured. 

Before  it  became  the  sarcophagus  of  Charlemagne,  it  is 
said  to  have  been  that  of  Augustus. 

After  mounting  a  narrow  staircase,  my  guide  conducted 
me  to  a  gallery  which  is  called  the  Hochmiinster.  In  this 
place  is  the  armchair  of  Charlemagne.  It  is  low,  exceed- 
ingly wide,  has  a  round  back,  and  is  composed  of  four 
pieces  of  white  marble  without  ornaments  or  sculpture  and 
the  seat  is  a  board  of  oak  covered  with  a  cushion  of  red 
velvet.     Six  steps  lead  to  it,  two  of  which  are  of  granite 


AIX-LA-CHAPELLE  CATHEDRAL  97 

and  the  others  marble.  On  this  chair  sat — a  crown  upon 
his  head,  a  globe  in  one  hand,  a  sceptre  in  the  other,  a 
sword  by  his  side,  the  imperial  mantle  over  his  shoulders, 
the  cross  of  Christ  around  his  neck,  and  his  feet  in  the 
sarcophagus  of  Augustus — Carlo  Magno  in  his  tomb,  in 
which  attitude  he  remained  for  three  hundred  and  fifty-two 
years — from  852  to  1166,  when  Frederick  Barbarossa,  cov- 
eting the  chair  for  his  coronation,  entered  the  tomb.  Barba- 
rossa was  an  illustrious  prince  and  a  valiant  soldier;  and  it 
must,  therefore,  have  been  a  singularly  strange  moment 
when  this  crowned  man  stood  before  the  crowned  corpse 
of  Charlemagne — the  one  in  all  the  majesty  of  empire,  the 
other  in  all  the  majesty  of  death.  The  soldier  overcame 
the  shades  of  greatness ;  the  living  became  the  despoiler  of 
inanimate  worth.  The  Chapelle  claimed  the  skeleton,  and 
Barbarossa  the  marble  chair,  which  afterwards  became  the 
throne  in  which  thirty-six  emperors  were  crowned. 


THE  DUOMO,  FLORENCE 

E.  GRIFI 

THE  Cathedral  of  Santa  Maria  del  Fiore  (so  called  from 
the  lily  which  figures  in  the  arms  of  Florence)  is 
one  of  the  most  magnificent  and  important  edifices  of 
Roman  Catholic  art.  It  is  a  wonderful  example  of  Italian- 
Gothic  architecture,  which,  influenced  by  classic  taste,  lost 
much  of  the  hardness  present  in  the  northern  style.  The 
various  styles  and  methods  which  are  to  be  found  in  the 
architecture  of  the  Duomo,  the  result  of  the  number  of  the 
architects  who  directed  the  work,  do  not  injure  the  majestic 
harmony  of  the  whole,  but  augment  rather  than  diminish 
the  excellency  and  the  perfection  of  this  great  work  of  art. 

The  Cathedral  was  begun  by  order  of  the  Republic  by 
Arnolfo  di  Cambio  in  the  year  1298,  erected  on  the  site  of 
the  earlier  church  of  St.  Salvatore  built  in  420.  It  became 
a  cathedral  after  the  body  of  St.  Salvatore  (490)  was  trans- 
ferred there.  Towards  the  end  of  the  Seventh  Century, 
Reparato,  Bishop  of  Florence,  repaired  St.  Salvatore  and 
gave  his  own  name  to  it.  Giotto  had  direction  of  the 
works  ( 1 332-1 336)  and  after  him  Andrea  Pisano  Francesco 
Talenti,  who,  with  the  help  of  Andrea  Ghini,  made  some 
important  modifications  in  the  original  design  (1357),  Gaddi, 
Orcagna,  Filippo  di  Lorenzo  and  many  others. 

Brunellesco  began  the  Dome  in  the  year  1421  and 
finished  it  in  the  year  1434,  keeping  his  word  to  build  it 
without  any  scaffolding  or  supports — a  wonderful  enterprise 


THE  DUOMO,  FLORENCE  99 

which,  even  in  the  present  day  after  all  the  progress  made 
in  mechanical  arts,  would  be  found  anything  but  an  easy 
tasic.  There  is  sufficient  space  between  the  two  Domes, 
placed  one  above  the  other,  to  admit  of  a  staircase  between 
them.  This  Dome  is  about  three  metres  higher  than  that 
of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome. 

The  Church  was  consecrated  with  great  solemnity  by 
Pope  Eugenius  IV.  in  the  year  1435.  In  1437,  Brunellesco 
began  to  build  the  lantern  on  the  top  of  the  Dome,  but  did 
not  see  it  finished,  as  he  died  in  1444.  The  last  stone  of 
the  lantern  was  laid  by  the  Archbishop  and  by  the  Gon- 
faloniere  in  the  year  1456.  The  bronze  ball  cast  by 
Andrea  del  Verrocchio  was  placed  upon  it  on  the  27th  of 
May,  147 1 — the  cross  shortly  afterwards.  On  the  30th  of 
the  same  month  the  Capitolo  della  Metropolitana  ascended 
the  ball  and  sang  the  Te  Deum.  The  ball  was  frequently 
struck  by  lightning.  The  most  remarkable  instance  of  this 
kind  occurred  on  the  5th  of  April,  1492,  three  days  before 
the  death  of  Lorenzo  il  Magnifico.  The  present  ball  is 
larger  than  the  former  and  dates  from  1602.  For  the  ex- 
ternal decoration  of  the  Dome,  Brunellesco  designed  the 
terrace,  of  which  only  an  eighth  part  was  finished  (15 15). 

The  facade  was  finished  in  1886  and  was  solemnly  un- 
veiled on  the  I2th  of  May,  1887,  in  the  presence  of  the 
King  and  Queen  of  Italy,  with  great  popular  rejoicings 
which  found  an  echo  throughout  the  whole  of  Italy.  The 
new  facade  is  a  never  ending  subject  of  pride  to  the 
modern  Florentine.  It  is  without  doubt  the  most  impor- 
tant artistic  work  accomplished  in  Italy  in  modern  times. 
The  facade  has  an  imposing  aspect  and  harmonizes  per- 
fectly with  the  rest  of  the  building.  It  is,  like  the  other 
parts  of  the  Cathedral,  composed  of  marbles  of  different 


100  THE  DUOMO,  FLORENCE 

colours :  white  marble  from  Carrara,  green  from  Prato, 
aiul  from  Maremma.  It  is  adorned  with  many  statues, 
bas-reliefs  and  mosaics  which  have  given  opportunity  to 
many  artists  to  share  in  this  colossal  structure.  It  is 
divided  in  three  parts  by  four  pilasters.  The  numerous 
coats-of-arms  carved  upon  it  belong  to  citizens  of  every 
class  who  subscribed  to  the  building. 

Now  let  us  walk  around  the  building  noting  the  various 
points  of  interest.  The  outside  of  the  Cathedral  is  en- 
crusted with  marbles  of  three  different  colours,  and  on  both 
sides,  between  the  two  side  doors  the  different  height  of  the 
windows  marks  the  point  where  the  original  design  by 
Arnolfo  was  changed  into  a  larger  one  by  Buontalenti. 
The  windows  are  narrow  and  long  ;  ornamented  with  very 
fine  carving  in  marble,  spiral  columns  and  elegantly  wrought 
statuettes.  Only  the  larger  windows  nearest  the  transepts 
admit  light — the  others  towards  the  western  extremity  are 
merely  ornamental  and  their  spiral  columns  and  tracery  are 
panned.  The  four  side-doors  are  four  beautiful  monuments 
of  ornamental  sculpture  of  different  ages. 

Entering  the  Cathedral,  the  soul  is  filled  with  admiration 
by  the  majestic  solemnity  of  the  architectural  lines.  The 
sentiment  inspired  by  the  Duomo  of  Florence  is  more  im- 
posing, more  filled  with  mystic  asceticism,  more  religious 
than  that  suggested  by  the  greatest  Roman  temple.  Pius 
IX.,  coming  to  Florence  and  visiting  the  Duomo,  said  :  "  In 
St.  Peter's  man  thinks ;  in  Santa  Maria  del  Fiore,  man 
prays  !  " 

The  Interior  of  the  building  (restored  in  1842)  is  divided 
in  two  large  parts — the  nave  and  the  tribune,  or  apse.  The 
nave  is  divided  in  three  parts  by  two  aisles  formed  by  four 
pointed  arches  on  either  side  of  the  nave  supported  by  four 


THE  DUOMO,  FLORENCE  1 01 

large  pilasters  in  pietra  serena.  The  capitals  are  carved  in 
rustic  leaves.  The  key-stones  of  the  arches  are  decorated 
with  various  insignia  and  devices.  The  tessellated  pave- 
ment in  white,  red  and  blue  marble,  is  attributed  to  Michel- 
angelo, Baccio  d'  Agnolo  and  fVancesco  da  San  Gallo. 

Over  the  principal  front  door  is  a  mosaic  by  Gaddo 
Gaddi  representing  the  Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  according 
to  Vasari  the  most  perfect  work  of  the  kind  in  all  Italy. 
On  the  two  sides  are  frescoes  (not  well  restored  in  1842) 
by  Santi  di  Tito,  representing  Angels.  Over  the  front 
door  to  the  right  an  equestrian  portrait  in  grisaille  by  Paolo 
Uccello,  represents  John  Hawkswood  [d.  1394),  better 
known  in  Italy  under  the  name  of  Giovanni  Aguto,  an 
English  captain  of  free  conpanics  (ConJott  iere)  who  served 
the  Republic  in  the  year  1392.  At  his  death  a  magnificent 
funeral  was  accorded  him  by  the  Florentines.  Over  the 
left  door  is  a  portrait  of  the  Condottiere  Niccolo  Marucci  da 
Tolentino  {d.  1434)  by  Andrea  del  Castagno.  The  beau- 
tiful stained  glass  windows  of  the  facade,  with  their  rich 
deep  colouring,  are  the  work  of  Bernardo  de'  Vetri  after  the 
designs  6f  Donatello  and  Ghiberti. 

The  Dome  is  painted  in  fresco  with  colossal  figures 
representing  the  Last  Judgment.  The  painting  of  the  Dome 
was  begun  in  1572  by  order  of  the  Grand-Duke  Cosimo  I. 
by  Vasari,  then  quite  an  old  man.  At  his  death  Francesco 
I.  consigned  the  work  to  Federigo  Zuccaro  who  finished  it 
in  the  year  1579. 

The  three  rose  windows  of  the  drum  are  of  beautiful 
stained  glass,  representing :  I.  The  Presentation  in  the 
Temple  (after  a  design  of  Ghiberti) ;  II.  The  Coronation 
of  the  Virgin  (design  by  Donatello)  j  III.  The  Adoration 
(design  by  Paolo  Uccello). 


102  THE  DUOMO,  FLORENCE 

The  marble  enclosure  of  the  choir  (substituted  for  the 
former  wooden  by  Donatello)  and  the  high  altar  are  by 
Bandinelli,  assisted  by  eighty-eight  of  his  pupils.  They 
were  both  executed  by  order  of  Cosimo  I.  The  wooden 
crucifix  over  the  high  altar  is  by  Benedetto  da  Alajano. 
Behind  the  choir  is  the  Pieta,  an  unfinished  work  of  Michel- 
angelo, executed  when  he  was  eighty-one  years  old  (1555). 
This  fine  piece  of  work  showing  a  deep  artistic  feeling 
combined  v/ith  a  profound  anatomical  knowledge,  especially 
denoted  in  the  lengthened  figure  of  the  Saviour,  was  placed 
here  by  order  of  Cosimo  I.  to  substitute  the  Adam  and 
Eve  by  Bandinelli  now  in  the  National  Museum  (Bargello). 
It  was  the  last  work  of  Buonarroti  which  he  intended  to 
have  placed  over  his  tomb.  But,  unfortunately,  he  left  it 
unfinished.  The  windows  in  the  southern  transept  (to  the 
right)  are  good  works  of  Domenico  Livi  da  Gambassi. 
The  designs  are  attributed  to  Ghiberti  and  Donatello. 
Their  date  is  about  1434. 

Going  out  of  the  church  through  the  door  by  which  we 
entered,  and  turning  to  the  right,  we  admire  the  Campanile 
di  Giotto  (the  Bell-Tower),  one  of  the  most  beautiful, 
most  solid  and  elegant  constructions  of  its  kind.  It  was 
begun  by  Giotto  (28th  of  July,  1334)  in  order  to  replace 
the  old  bell-tower  of  Santa  Reparata  that  had  existed  on  the 
other  side  of  the  church  and  had  been  destroyed  by  a  fire  in 
1333.  It  is  supposed  to  occupy  the  site  of  a  small  church 
dedicated  to  San  Zanobi,  in  which  the  "  Seven  Servants  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  "  were  miraculously  called  to  lead  a  life 
of  contemplation.  Giotto  built  the  first  floor,  then  when 
the  Gran  Maestro  died  (1336),  Taddeo  Gaddi  continued 
the  work,  assisted  by  Andrea  Pisani  and  Francesco  Talenti ; 
the  latter  finishing  it  in  1342. 


THE  DUOMO,  FLORENCE  IO3 

The  Campanile  is  encased  in  marbles  of  various  colours  j 
but  it  is  utterly  impossible,  simply  by  words,  to  give  an  idea 
of  the  beauty  of  the  whole  and  elegance  of  the  details. 
The  Campanile  is  divided  into  five  stories  by  strongly 
marked  horizontal  courses.  The  last  three,  only,  have 
windows,  the  third  and  fourth  having  each  two  windows  of 
two  openings  on  each  side;  the  last  one  is  a  single  window 
of  three  openings  on  each  side.  These  windows,  especially 
in  the  details,  are  rightly  considered  as  the  most  beautiful  ex- 
amples of  Italian  Ogival  style.  They  were  made  by  Fran- 
cesco Talenti.  The  last  story,  being  the  farthest  away 
from  the  spectator,  is  about  twice  the  height  of  the  lower 
stories.  The  proportions  existing  between  the  different 
parts  of  the  building  and  the  skilful  placing  of  the  windows, 
all  testify  to  the  artistic  taste  of  Giotto. 


NOTRE  DAME,  PARIS 

S.    SOPHIA  BEALE 

THE  Cathedral  is  now  open  on  all  sides  and  the  coup 
d'  ceil  is  fine  when  seen  from  the  Place  du  Parvis — 
Notre  Dame  or  from  the  garden  at  the  east  end  j  but  to  ob- 
tain these  fine  views  many  buildings  of  interest  have  been 
sacrificed, — the  cloisters,  the  churches  of  S.  Jean-le-Rond 
and  S.  Christophe,  the  episcopal  palace,  the  oldest  parts  of 
the  hospitals  of  the  Hotel  Dieu  and  Les  Enfants-Trouves, 
and  the  chapel  constructed  in  the  Fourteenth  Century  by 
Oudart  de  Mocreux. 

The  history  of  Notre  Dame  is  in  a  great  measure  the 
history  of  France.  It  was  there  that  the  Te  Deum  was 
sung  after  successful  battles,  and  where  the  standards  which 
were  taken  from  the  enemy  were  suspended  during  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  wars.  There,  too,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
Thirteenth  Century  S.  Dominie  preached  from  a  book 
given  him  by  the  Blessed  Virgin,  who  appeared  to  the  Saint 
after  an  hour's  silent  meditation,  radiant  with  beauty  and 
dazzling  as  the  sunlight.  Some  fifty  years  ago  the  Cathe- 
dral, and,  indeed,  all  Paris,  was  stirred  by  the  conferences 
held  there  by  one  of  S.  Dominie's  own  children,  Pere  La- 
cordaire,  who,  with  his  friends  Lamenais  and  Montalembert, 
made  an  effort  to  free  the  Roman  branch  of  the  Catholic 
Church  from  the  fungi  which  had  grown  on  it,  an  effort 
which  was  as  fruitless  as  that  undertaken  by  his  predecessor 
Savonarola  four  hundred  years  before  him. 


NOTRE  DAME,   PARIS  IO5 

On  the  27th  of  November,  1431,  the  child  Henry  VI.  of 
England,  was  crowned  King  of  France  in  the  choir  of 
the  Cathedral.  But  the  pomp  of  this  ceremony  was  soon 
effaced,  for  on  the  Friday  in  Easter  Week,  1436,  a  TV 
Deum  was  sung  to  celebrate  the  retaking  of  Paris  by  the 
troops  of  Charles  VII. 

In  the  Thirteenth  Century  the  Feast  of  the  Assumption 
was  celebrated  with  great  pomp;  the  whole  church  was 
hung  with  valuable  tapestries  and  the  pavement  covered 
with  sweet-smelling  flowers  and  herbs ;  but  two  centuries 
later,  grass  from  the  fields  of  Gentilly  seems  to  have  suf- 
ficed to  do  honour  to  Our  Lady  on  \v&v  fete  day. 

The  same  custom  prevailed  here  as  at  the  Sainte-Chapelle 
and  other  churches  of  letting  fly  pigeons  and  throwing 
flowers  and  torches  of  flaming  flax  from  the  windows  in 
celebration  of  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  Day  of 
Pentecost. 

The  western  facade,  though  not  so  rich  as  that  of 
Reims,  is,  nevertheless,  extremely  beautiful.  It  is  divided 
into  three  parts  in  width  and  into  four  stories  in  its  eleva- 
tion. 

All  the  six  doors  of  Notre  Dame  bear  distinctive  names 
— the  Porte  du  Jugement^  the  Porte  de  la  Vierge  and  the 
Porte  Ste.  Anne^  at  the  west  end  ;  the  Porte  du  Cloitre^  the 
Porte  St.  Marcel  and  the  Porte  Rouge  at  the  east  end.  Each 
of  these  is  divided  into  two  openings  by  a  central  pier,  sup- 
porting a  figure  and  surmounted  by  a  tympanum,  over  which 
is  a  deep  voussure^  peopled  with  sculptures  innumerable. 
Tradition  formerly  recorded  a  flight  of  thirteen  steps  rising 
to  the  west  front ;  but  the  excavations  made  in  1847 
proved  this  to  have  been  a  mistake.  If  steps  existed  any- 
where, they  were    probably  on   the    side  of  the  episcopal 


106  NOTRE  DAME,   PARIS 

palace  near  the  southern  tower  and  leading  down  to  the 
river.  At  the  same  time  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
church  would  gain  in  effect  were  it  raised  above  the  roadway 
as  is  the  case  at  Amiens.  At  present  it  is  even  a  little 
lower  than  the  Place^  but  allowing  for  the  rising  of  the 
ground  during  seven  centuries,  it  is  quite  possible  that  the 
Cathedral  had  not  the  sunken  appearance  it  has  at  present. 
In  the  niches  upon  the  great  buttresses  are  four  figures  ; 
S.  Denis  and  S.  Etienne  at  the  extremities  and  two  women 
crowned  in  the  centre.  These  represent  a  very  common 
conceit  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  Church  and  the  Synagogue, 
the  one  triumphant,  the  other  defeated. 

Above  the  portals  is  the  gallery  of  the  Kings  of  Judah, 
the  ancestors  of  the  Virgin,  and  perhaps  typical  of  the 
sovereigns  of  France.  The  gallery  of  the  Virgin  is  still 
higher,  and  upon  it  in  the  centre  stands  the  Oueen  of 
Heaven  with  attendant  Angels,  Adam  and  Eve  being  above 
the  side  doors.  Higher  still  we  come  to  the  tower  galleries 
presided  over  by  delightful  monsters  of  various  zoological 
tribes.  Nothing  gives  a  visitor  to  Notre  Dame  a  better 
notion  of  the  richness  of  its  sculptures  than  mounting  to 
this  gallery,  whence  he  obtains  a  full  view  of  the  roof  and 
the  towers,  with  their  numerous  pinnacles,  crockets,  finials, 
gargoyles  and  statues. 

Unfortunately  the  great  central  portal  was  hopelessly 
wrecked  by  Soufflot  in  1771,  in  order  to  increase  its  width 
for  processions  ;  it  is  one  of  the  many  examples  which  prove 
the  fact  that  the  "  stupidity  of  man  "  has  done  more  harm 
to  old  buildings  than  time  or  even  disastrous  riots  and 
revolutions.  In  1773  and  1787,  so-called  restorations,  by 
architects  who  ought  to  have  known  better,  still  further 
mutilated  the  church. 


NOTRE  DAME,  PARIS  IO7 

Viollet-le-Duc  did  his  work  better  than  most  restorers  j 
but  of  the  old  church  nothing  remains  but  the  shell — even 
the  surface  of  the  stone  has  been  scraped  and  scrubbed,  giv- 
ing the  building  as  new  an  appearance  as  that  of  the 
churches  of  S.  Augustin  and  La  Trinite.  Hugo's  words, 
directed  against  the  architects  of  Louis  XIV.  and  Louis 
XV.,  apply  equally  to  those  of  our  own  time :  "  If  we 
could  examine  with  the  reader  one  by  one  the  divers  traces 
of  destruction  imprinted  on  the  ancient  church,  those  by 
Time  would  be  the  least  and  the  worst  by  men,  particularly 
by  men  who  followed  art." 

The  great  destruction  occurred  between  1699  and  1753. 
Louis  XIV.,  the  great  destroyer  of  men  and  of  their  works, 
in  order  to  carry  out  the  "  Vceu  de  Louis  XIII."  made  away 
with  the  old  carved  stalls,  the  jub'e^  the  cloisters,  the  high 
altar  with  its  numerous  chasses  and  reliquaries,  its  bronze 
columns  and  silver  and  gold  statuettes,  the  tombs  and  the 
stained  glass.  It  177 1  the  statues  above  the  great  west 
doors  disappeared  when  Soufflot  began  his  evil  work  of 
widening  them.  Another  great  loss  to  the  church  was  the 
destruction  of  the  statue  of  S.  Christopher,  a  huge  colossal 
figure  as  celebrated  in  the  Middle  Ages  as  the  relics  of  the 
Sainte-Chapelle.  It  stood  at  the  entrance  of  the  nave  and 
was  the  work  of  Messire  Antoine  des  Essarts  in  1443  in 
gratitude  to  the  saintly  giant  for  having  saved  him  from  the 
Burgundians.  Miracle-working  Virgins,  Philippe-Auguste 
posing  as  S.  Simon  Stylites  and  two  bishops  of  Paris  like- 
wise upon  columns  were  amongst  some  of  the  former 
treasures.  Whether  three  great  figures  in  wax  of  Gregory 
XL,  his  niece  and  nephew,  which  tumbled  into  decay  in 
1599,  are  equally  to  be  regretted,  is  doubtful ;  but  the  de- 
scription of  an  equestrian  statue  which  stood  in  the  nave, 


I08  NOTRE  DAME,   PARIS 

the  man  in  armour  and  the  horse  in  emblazoned  trappings, 
sounds  fascinating. 

When  the  Revolutionary  period  began,  little  remained  to 
be  done  in  the  way  of  destruction,  but  that  little  the  votaries 
of  Reason  did  pretty  well  as  regards  everything  pertaining 
unto  royalty  ;  for  to  be  just  we  must  remember  that  any- 
thing that  could  be  construed  into  philosophy  or  art  was 
spared.  In  August,  1793,  it  was  decided  that  eight  days 
should  be  allowed  for  the  destruction  of  the  gothiques 
simulacres  of  the  kings  upon  the  portals.  Later  on  the 
Saints  were  ordered  to  share  the  same  fate  but  Citizen 
Chaumette  stepped  in  and  saved  the  sculpture  by  assuring 
his  colleagues  that  the  astronomer  Dupuis  had  discovered  his 
planetary  system  on  one  of  the  portals. 

The  central  portal  is  a  mass  of  wonderful  sculpture. 
The  lower  part  of  the  stylobate  bears  lozenge-shaped  com- 
partments enclosing  roses  and  lilies.  Above  this  are  the 
Virtues  and  Vices,  the  former  being  figures  of  women  bear- 
ing their  emblems  ;  the  latter  little  scenes  describing  each 
particular  vice.  Above  the  Virtues  and  Vices  are  the 
Twelve  Apostles,  placed  over  the  Virtue  which  in  their 
lives  they  especially  displayed.  Nothing  in  these  sculptures 
was  done  without  a  purpose  j  thus  S.  Paul  stands  over 
Courage  and  S.  Peter  above  Faith  j  indeed,  the  whole  door- 
way was  designed  to  carry  out  a  particular  idea,  and  to  il- 
lustrate the  main  doctrines  of  Christ,  whose  statue  stands 
upon  the  central  pier,  giving  the  benediction  to  all  who 
enter. 

On  each  side  of  the  doorway  are  the  Wise  and  Foolish 
Virgins  and  in  the  tympanum,  which  is  divided  into  three 
zones,  is  the  Resurrection  of  the  Dead.  Souls  are  being 
weighed ;  and  under  one  scale  a  mean  little  demon  may  be 


NOTRE  DAME,  PARIS  IO9 

seen  pulling  it  down  with  a  hooic,  in  case  the  poor  soul's 
sins  should  not  be  sufficient  to  weigh  it  down.  It  may  be 
noted  that  the  Mediaeval  theologians  evidently  considered 
the  nails  which  pierced  our  Blessed  Lord's  body  of  more 
honour  than  the  tree  unto  which  He  was  bound  ;  for  here 
we  see  an  Angel  holding  the  cross  with  bare  hands,  while 
another  envelopes  the  nails  in  a  napkin.  In  the  Voussure 
are  rows  of  personages ;  the  lower  ones  belonging  to  the 
Judgment,  the  upper  ones  to  the  Resurrection.  Then 
come  the  Angels,  Prophets  and  Doctors  of  the  church  (tak- 
ing precedence  at  Notre  Dame  of  the  Martyrs,  by  reason 
of  Paris  being  a  great  seat  of  learning),  f'ollowing  them 
are  the  Martyrs  and  Virgins.  Didron  gives  an  account  by 
an  Armenian  bishop  of  a  visit  to  Paris  in  1489-96,  in 
which  he  describes  these  sculptures  exactly  as  they  now  ap- 
pear, and  speaks  of  the  beauty  of  their  colouring  and 
gilding. 

The  sculptures  of  the  two  other  doors  are  of  the  same 
character  as  the  Porte  du  yugement^  but  the  subjects  are 
taken  severally  from  the  histories  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
and  of  S.  Anne.  In  the  Porte  de  la  Vierge  the  Mother  and 
Child  hold  the  central  place  and  in  the  tympanum  are  the 
Assumption  and  the  Glorification  of  the  Virgin.  The  Porte 
S.  Anne  is  the  oldest  of  the  three  portals  and  the  sculptures 
being  the  most  ancient  of  the  church,  it  has  been  assumed 
that  they  were  brought  from  an  older  edifice.  The  central 
figure  is  S.  Marcel,  ninth  bishop  of  Paris,  who  died  in  436. 
The  tympanum  is  ornamented  with  the  History  of 
Joachim  and  Anna,  the  Marriage  of  the  Virgin  and  the 
Budding  of  S.  Joseph's  staff. 

The  beautiful  ironwork  of  the  doors  of  Notre  Dame  are 
worthy   their  reputed  origin ;  they  are  said  to  have   been 


no  NOTRE  DAME,  PARIS 

finished  in  a  single  night  by  his  Satanic  Majesty  in  conse- 
quence of  the  dilatoriness  of  Biscornette,  the  blacksmith. 
The  legend  has  probably  grown  from  the  design  of  a  part 
of  the  ironwork,  a  little  man  with  horns  and  the  tail  of  a 
fish,  who  sits  upon  the  branch  of  a  tree.  It  appears  that 
Biscornette  was  charged  to  forge  the  ironwork  of  the  doors 
in  a  given  time  9  but  finding  himself  behindhand  in  his 
work,  he  determined  to  call  in  the  aid  of  the  Devil.  This 
personage  arrived,  put  on  the  leathern  apron,  and  set  to 
work  so  vigorously  that  by  dawn  it  was  finished. 

At  the  foot  of  the  southern  facade  is  the  inscription 
which  gives  the  name  of  the  architect  and  the  date  of  the 
church.  The  beautiful  little  Porte  Rouge  is  of  the  end  of 
the  Thirteenth  Century.  In  the  tympanum  a  king  and 
queen  are  represented  kneeling  at  each  side  of  our  Lord 
and  His  Mother,  very  probably  S.  Louis  and  his  wife, 
Marguerite  de  Provence. 

The  interior  of  Notre  Dame  is  imposing  though  some- 
what heavy  in  character;  and  although  the  nave  and  choir 
were  sixty  years  in  construction,  there  is  scarcely  any  differ- 
ence in  style,  except  in  the  details.  There  is  a  certain 
clumsiness  about  the  great  round  shafts  of  the  nave,  but 
the  carving  upon  the  angles  of  the  plinths  and  of  the  capi- 
tals helps  to  relieve  this  effect.  Most  of  the  capitals  are 
ornamented  with  examples  of  the  flora  of  Parisian  fields. 
At  the  west  end  is  a  gallery  now  occupied  by  the  great 
organ,  but  which  formerly  was  the  stage  upon  which  Mir- 
acle-plays were  performed.  The  choir  is  by  far  the  most 
beautiful  part  of  the  church  ;  and  being  filled  with  stained 
glass,  it  has  not  that  painfully  cleaned-up  appearance 
which  is  the  result  of  over-restoration.  Some  parts  of  it, 
the  bays  which  separate  the  side-aisles  from  the  crossings. 


NOTRE  DAME,  PARIS  1 1  I 

are  of  the  Fourteenth  Century ;  and  the  little  Angels  blow- 
ing trumpets,  which  surmount  the  archivolt,  are  beautiful 
specimens  of  sculpture  of  that  period.  The  capitals  of 
some  of  the  choir  columns  being  the  oldest  in  the  church 
(the  early  part  of  the  Twelfth  Century)  are  very  rich  in 
the  quaint  style  of  decoration  delighted  in  by  Mediaeval 
artists — masses  of  foliage  with  heads  of  grotesque  animals 
peeping  out  and  biting  off  the  leaves  and  flowers. 

One  capital  (between  the  seventh  and  eighth  southern 
chapels)  is  interesting  as  showing  the  transition  between 
the  use  of  personages  and  animals,  and  that  of  foliage  only, 
which  was  customary  in  the  later  period.  The  subject  is 
very  unecclesiastical,  as  was  so  often  the  case  in  the 
Twelfth  and  Thirteenth  Centuries — two  Harpies,  male  and 
female,  with  human  heads  and  bird  bodies,  issuing  out  of 
the  foliage.  Much  of  this  is  treated  in  the  most  realistic 
manner  and  we  find  specimens  of  the  oak,  the  ivy  and  the 
trefod. 

The  Lady  Chapel,  or  Chapel  of  the  Compassion,  and 
the  two  on  either  side,  are  painted  and  gilded,  a  good  deal 
of  the  old  colouring  having  survived  as  a  guide.  There  is 
some  good  carving,  and  in  front  of  the  tabernacle  hang 
seven  lamps  of  elegant  design.  These,  added  to  the  beauty 
of  the  old  stained  glass,  make  this  end  of  the  church  by  far 
the  most  beautiful  part.  This  Chapel  also  contains  an  in- 
scription, bearing  the  name  of  the  founder.  Bishop  Simon 
Matiffas  de  Bucy,  who  died  in  1304. 

The  church  was  rich  in  glass  up  to  the  year  1741,  when 
a  demon  in  human  shape  one  Levieil,  the  author  of  a  trea- 
tise upon  the  art  of  glass  painting,  set  to  work  to  re-adorn 
Notre  Dame.  He  describes  the  matter  himself;  what  he 
found  and  what  he  transformed.     In  the  choir  and  the  apse 


112  NOTRE  DAME,  PARIS 

the  windows  were  ornamented  with  colossal  figures  eighteen 
feet  high,  representing  bishops,  vested  and  bearing  pastoral 
staves,  without  the  usual  crook  termination.  A  border  of 
lozenge-shaped  coloured  glass  framed  the  figures  and  filled 
up  the  divisions  of  the  compartments.  These  windows 
Levieil  dated  no  later  than  1 182,  and  he  adds  that  there 
were  many  fragments  of  much  older  glass,  probably  ema- 
nating from  the  ancient  basilicas  which  preceded  the  pres- 
ent church. 

A  little  remains  of  the  Fourteenth  Century :  some 
Angels  holding  the  instruments  of  the  Passion,  a  Pelican 
and  its  chicks j  a  Christ  draped  in  red;  and  a  little  figure 
of  the  Virgin.  But  the  glory  of  the  church  is  the  glass  of 
the  rose  windows,  which  continues  the  subjects  portrayed 
upon  the  sculpture  of  the  doors  over  which  they  are  placed. 
In  the  western  rose  the  Virgin  is  in  the  central  compart- 
ment, crowned  and  bearing  a  sceptre ;  on  her  left  arm  is 
the  Infant  Christ  giving  the  benediction.  The  twelve 
prophets  surround  her  and  we  again  see  the  Signs  of  the 
Zodiac  and  the  work  special  to  each  month  during  the 
year.  Virtues  and  Vices,  Judges,  Priests,  Prophets  and 
Kings  of  Judah ;  Saints  and  Martyrs  with  the  instru- 
ments of  their  martyrdom  or  palms,  decorate  these  exquisite 
windows,  masterpieces  of  the  art ;  equal  to  the  wmdows  of 
Metz  and  Strasburg  and  contemporary  with  the  stone  walls 
which  surround  them. 

The  bells  of  Notre  Dame  were  justly  celebrated  ;  but  of 
the  thirteen  which  were  formerly  in  the  towers  only  one 
remains,  the  great  bourdon^  heard  all  over  the  city  on  great 
occasions;  as  for  instance  on  Holy  Saturday,  when  at  High 
Mass,  during  the  Gloria  it  peals  forth,  giving  the  signal 
for  all   the   other  church   bells   to   break  their  forty-eight 


NOTRE  DAME,   PARIS  II3 

hours*  silence.  It  was  given  by  Jean  de  Montaigu  in  1400, 
who  named  it  Jacqueline,  after  his  wife  Jacqueline  de  la 
Grange;  and  in  1686  it  was  refoundered  and  rebaptized — 
Emmanuel-Louisc-Therese  in  honour  of  Louis  XIV.  and 
Marie-Therese  of  Austria. 

The  exterior  decoration  of  Notre  Dame  is  very  rich. 
Gargoyles,  monsters  of  the  most  grotesque  type,  called  also 
tarasques  and  ?nagots  are  there,  encircling  the  towers  and 
disputing  their  importance  with  the  Angel  of  the  Judgment. 
The  monsters  stand,  as  they  did  centuries  ago,  gazing  down 
upon  Paris  and  its  doings  for  good  or  for  evil.  Think  of 
the  events  they  have  witnessed  from  the  burning  of  fifty- 
four  Templars  in  a  slow  fire  by  Philippe  IV.  to  the  horrors 
of  the  Commune.  And  all  the  ages  through  the  brutes 
have  had  the  same  expression  of  scorn,  of  spite,  of  diabolical 
ugliness,  that  one  feels  it  to  be  a  comfort  that  they  are  fixed 
safely  to  the  gallery  of  the  towers,  out  of  the  way  of  work- 
ing mischief. 

Amongst  the  great  ceremonies  which  have  taken  place  in 
the  Cathedral  are  the  marriage  of  Marie  Stuart  with  Fran- 
cois II.  of  France  in  1552;  the  marriage  of  Henri  of 
Navarre  and  Marguerite  de  Valois  upon  a  platform  erected 
outside  the  great  porch  to  prevent  Protestant  contamina- 
tion of  the  church,  upon  the  eve  of  S.  Bartholomew,  the 
i8th  August,  just  six  days  before  the  great  work  of  mas- 
sacre on  the  24th  ;  the  coronation  of  Napoleon  by  Pope 
Pius  VII.,  in  1804;  the  marriage  of  the  Due  de  Berry  and 
the  baptism  of  the  Due  de  Bordeaux  (Comte  du  Chambord) 
in  1816;  the  funeral  of  the  Due  d'Orleans,  son  of  Louis 
Philippe  in  1853  '  ^^^  marriage  of  Louis-Napoleon  in  1853  ' 
the  baptism  of  his  son  in  1857;  ^^^  ^  certain  number  of 
episcopal  consecrations. 


YORK  MINSTER 

DEAN  PUREY-CUST 

*'  TTT  rosa  flos  florum  sic  est  domus  Ista  domorum  "  are  the 
words  which  some  unknown  hand  has  inscribed 
upon  the  walls  of  our  Minster,  and  we  who  love  the  habi- 
tation of  His  house  and  the  place  where  God's  honour 
dwelleth  venture  to  think  that  these  are  "  words  of  truth 
and  soberness  "  even  now,  though  we  remember  that  when 
they  were  written  there  were  many  features  of  art  and  taste 
adorning  the  great  fabric  which  have  long  since  passed 
away.  Still  York  Minster  is  ''a  thing  of  beauty,"  in  spite 
of  ruthless  improvements  and  fanatical  zeal  and  Puritan 
Philistinism  and  indiscriminating  utilitarianism  and  ignorant 
restorations. 

In  1 154,  when  Archbishop  Fitz-Herbert  died  at  York, 
Canterbury  Cathedral  must  have  been  in  the  zenith  of  its 
beauty,  and  we  can  well  imagine  the  anxiety  of  Robert  the 
Dean  and  Osbert  the  Archdeacon  to  secure  the  election  by 
the  Chapter  of  Roger,  who  had  been  Archdeacon  of  Canter- 
bury from  1 148,  and  who  had  no  doubt  already  given 
promise  of  that  architectural  ability  and  liberality  of  char- 
acter which  eventually  made  him  the  most  munificent  ruler 
that  ever  presided  over  the  See  of  York.  Becket  succeeded 
him  in  the  archdeaconry  until  1 162,  when,  elevated  to  the 
See  of  Canterbury,  the  two  quondam  archdeacons  of  Can- 
terbury were  at  the  very  helm  of  the  Church  of  England. 

Roger  seems  at  once  to  have  commenced  the  reproduc- 


YORK  MINSTER  115 

tion  at  York  of  this  great  work,  by  substituting  for  the 
short  simple  chancel  of  the  Minster  a  complex  eastern 
building,  which,  making  due  allowance  for  its  want  of 
equal  dimensions  with  Canterbury  choir,  was  yet  evidently 
planned  on  the  same  system,  with  the  aisles  square-ended 
instead  of  an  apsidal,  and  the  flanking  towers  made  to  per- 
form the  part  of  eastern  transepts.  Of  this  choir,  portions 
only  of  the  crypt  still  survive.  The  base  of  the  beautiful 
western  entrance  doorway  to  the  north  aisle  can  still  be 
seen  by  adventurous  explorers.  The  ordinary  visitor  can 
still  admire  the  substantial  and  elaborately  incised  columns, 
which  once  supported  the  floor  of  the  choir  above,  and  see 
the  arches,  with  the  bold  zigzag  mouldings  which  once 
rested  on  them,  but  which  were  removed  in  the  days  of 
Edward  I.  to  support  a  stone  platform  behind  the  high 
altar,  on  which  was  erected  the  shrine  of  William  Fitz- 
Herbert,  then  canonized  as  "  St.  William  of  York,'*  to  pro- 
vide for  the  northern  province  a  counter-attraction  to 
St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury.  But  there  were  munificent 
laymen  as  well  as  clergymen  in  those  days  for  Lord  Wil- 
liam de  Percy  gave  the  church  of  TopclifFe,  with  all  things 
pertaining  to  the  church  of  St,  Peter  at  York,  as  a  perpetual 
alms  for  the  repairing  and  building  thereof,  a  gift  which 
still  remains  m  the  possession  of  the  Dean  and  Chapter  and 
he  and  his  successors  continued  to  assist  the  development 
of  the  Cathedral  with  munificent  contributions  of  wood 
until  the  completion  of  the  nave,  when  his  statue  was  placed 
to  commemorate  his  liberality  above  the  west  door  on  the 
right  hand  of  Archbishop  Melton,  the  Metropolitan  at  that 
time.  On  his  left  hand  stands  another  figure  commemo- 
ratmg  equally  liberal  benefactors  :  Mauger  le  Vavasour,  who 
gave   a  grant   of  free  way  for  the  stone  required  for  the 


Il6  YORK  MINSTER 

foundation  of  the  Minster  by  Archbishop  Thomas  j  his  son 
Robert  le  Vavasour,  who  gave  ten  acres  and  half  a  rood  of 
his  quarry  in  Thievesdale  in  free,  pure  and  perpetual  alms ; 
and  their  descendants  who  in  like  manner  presented  almost 
all  the  material  required  for  the  present  buildings  even  as 
late  as  the  great  fire  in  1829,  when  Sir  Edward  Vavasour, 
although  a  Roman  Catholic,  at  once  placed  his  quarries  at 
the  service  of  the  Dean  and  Chapter  for  the  restoration  of 
the  choir. 

Geoffrey  Plantagenet,  who  succeeded  Roger,  had  not  the 
opportunity,  even  if  he  had  the  capacity,  to  extend  the 
buildings  of  the  Minster.  Walter  de  Gray  completed  the 
south  transept,  in  boldness  of  arrangement  and  design  and 
in  richness  of  decoration  without  a  peer.  And  there  his 
body  rests  in  the  grave  which  received  all  that  was  mortal 
of  him  on  the  vigil  of  Pentecost,  1255,  ^^^'^  surmounted 
with  the  effigy  of  the  great  man  in  full  canonicals  carved  in 
Perbeck  marble,  under  a  comely  canopy  resting  on  ten  light, 
graceful  pillars,  hidden,  alas  !  by  a  crude  and  modern  screen 
of  iron,  by  the  well-intentioned  addition  of  Archbishop 
Markham  some  eighty  years  ago. 

And  Providence  had  associated  with  Walter  de  Gray 
one  worthy  of  such  a  fellowship,  John  le  Romain,  the 
treasurer  of  the  church,  an  Italian  ecclesiastic,  who,  tradi- 
tion says,  smitten  with  the  charms  of  some  dark-eyed 
beauty  of  the  south,  gladly  associated  himself  with  the 
clergy  of  a  church,  where  celibacy  at  that  day,  at  least,  was 
not  de  r'tgueur.  He  it  was  who  completed  the  great  work 
his  superior  had  commenced,  raised  at  his  own  expense  the 
great  tower,  built  the  north  transept,  designed  "  the  Five 
Sisters,"  and  filled  it  with  the  exquisite  grisaille  geometrical 
glass,  which  has  been  the  admiration  of  successive  genera- 


YORK  MINSTER  II  7 

tlons  for  six  hundred  years.  And  his  son,  exalted  to  the 
archiepiscopate  in  1286,  inherited  the  taste  and  munificence 
of  his  father.  Perhaps  for  that  very  reason  the  Chapter 
selected  him  when  only  Prebendary  of  Warthill  in  the 
Church  to  be  his  successor,  and  his  ten  years  of  office,  if 
too  short  to  do  much,  was  sufficient  to  initiate  the  great 
work  of  building  a  nave  consistent  with  the  transepts. 
Another  style  of  architecture  was  setting  in,  the  Decorated, 
and  where  could  it  be  better  inaugurated  than  in  such  a 
church  as  this  ?  For  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  the  good 
work  went  on.  Four  prelates  in  succession,  Henry  de 
Newark,  l^homas  de  Corbridge,  William  de  Greenfield, 
William  de  Melton,  each,  during  his  tenure  of  office,  strove 
to  promote  the  completion  of  the  grand  design  his  prede- 
cessor had  indicated  in  that  full  perfection  of  ecclesiastical 
architect'-jre.  No  effort  was  spared,  no  personal  self-denial 
evaded ;  clergy  and  laity  alike  shared  in  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  moment,  the  Plantagenet  kings,  for  the  most  part 
resident  in  York,  by  offerings  and  by  influence,  encouraging 
and  sti.nulating  the  good  work.  Archbishop  Melton  con- 
tributed many  thousands  of  pounds  from  his  own  purse, 
and  hr.d  the  privilege  of  seeing  the  grand  conception  com- 
pleted ;  and  there  he  sits  above  the  central  doorway  graven 
in  stone  in  his  archiepiscopal  attire,  with  his  hand  still  raised 
in  benediction;  over  his  head  one  of  the  finest  Flamboyant 
windows  in  the  world  and  on  either  side  the  representatives 
of  tl^  houses  of  Vavasour  and  Percy,  bearing  in  their 
arms  emblems  of  the  wood  and  stone  which  they  had 
offer  d. 

A  d  concurrently  with  the  great  work,  another,  in  per- 
fect iarmony  therewith,  was  proceeding,  viz.,  the  Chapter 
H'     te,  with  its  great  circum.ference,  occupied  with  stalls, 


Il8  YORK  MINSTER 

surmounted  by  elaborate  and  delicate  canopies,  enriched 
with  innumerable  quaint  and  suggestive  carvings  of  heads 
and  features,  some  as  warnings,  some  as  encouragements, 
to  those  who  have  eyes  to  see,  and  of  graceful  foliage  of 
trefoil  and  other  plants,  specially  the  platiia  benedicta^  which 
illustrated  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Trinity  and  the  love  of 
God  girdled  with  a  simple  yet  emblematical  wreath  of  the 
vine ;  while  the  varied  foliage  rises  again  in  the  glass,  bor- 
dering the  noble  windows,  rich  with  heraldry  and  sacred 
subjects  until  lost  in  the  stately  roof,  which,  spanning  the 
whole  area  without  any  central  column,  and  once  glowing 
with  emblematical  figures  and  stars,  is  centred  with  a 
majestic  boss  of  the  Lamb  of  God.  Alas  that  Willement 
ever  essayed  to  restore  it,  scraped  the  paintings  from  the 
walls,  plastered  the  ceiling,  repaired  the  floor  and  ruined 
the  last  window  which  he  had  taken  to  pieces  and  found 
himself  incompetent  to  put  together  again  !  Still  though 
but  the  survival  of  its  ancient  glories,  it  is  "  the  flower  of 
our  flowers,"  the  focus  of  all  the  beauties  which  in  their 
wanton  profusion  extend  on  all  sides  around  us. 

Melton's  days  closed  under  the  dark  shadow  of  his  de- 
feat at  Myton  by  the  Scotch,  and  Zouche,  Dean  of  York, 
his  successor,  though  he  wiped  ofFthe  stain  thereof  by  his 
triumphant  victory  over  them  at  Neville's  Cross,  and  took 
care  of  Queen  Philippaand  her  children  during  the  absence 
of  Edward  III.  in  his  French  wars,  did  little  to  promote  the 
material  dignity  of  the  Minster  save  to  build  the  chapel 
which  bears  his  name,  and  which  he  had  intended  for  a 
place  of  sculpture  for  himself.  But  Thoresby,  a  Yorkshire- 
man  from  Wensleydale  and  a  Prebendary  of  the  Minster, 
his  successor  in  1352,  Bishop  of  Worcester  and  Lord 
Chancellor,  was  a  man  of  very  different  temperament.     He 


YORK  MINSTER  II9 

had  the  further  development  of  the  glories  of  the  Minster 
thoroughly  at  heart.  At  once  he  sacrificed  his  palace  at 
Sherburn  to  provide  materials  for  an  appropriate  Lady- 
Chapel,  gave  successive  munificent  donations  of  ^100  at 
each  of  the  great  festivals  of  the  Christian  year,  and  called 
on  clergy  and  laity  alike  to  submit  cheerfully  to  stringent 
self-denial  to  supply  the  funds. 

During  his  tenure  of  office  of  twenty-three  years  the 
Lady  Chapel  was  completed,  a  chaste  and  dignified  speci- 
men of  early  Perpendicular  style,  into  which  the  Decorated 
gradually  blended  after  the  year  1360,  and  unique  in  its 
glorious  east  window,  seventy-eight  feet  high  and  thirty- 
three  feet  wide,  still  the  largest  painted  window  in  the 
world,  enriched  with  its  double  mullions,  which  give  such 
strength  and  lightness  to  its  graceful  proportions,  and  with 
its  elaborate  glass  executed  by  Thornton,  of  Coventry,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  following  century.  But  Roger's  choir, 
which  was  still  standing,  must  now  have  looked  sadly 
dwarfed  between  the  lofty  Lady  Chapel  and  the  tower  and 
transepts. 

Alexander  Neville,  his  immediate  successor,  probably 
did  not  do  much  to  remedy  this,  for  he  soon  became  in- 
volved in  Richard  IL's  rash  proceedings  and  had  to  fly  to 
Louvain,  where  he  died  in  poverty.  Neither  did  Arundel 
or  Waldby,  his  successors,  for  the  former  was  soon  trans- 
lated to  Canterbury,  the  latter  soon  died.  But  Richard 
Scrope,  who  was  appointed  in  his  place,  would  naturally  be 
earnest  and  vigorous  in  the  new  work,  for  he  was  a  York- 
shireman  by  birth,  son  of  Lord  Scrope  of  Mash  am,  kinsman 
of  Lord  Scrope  of  Bolton,  and,  during  the  short  nine  years 
which  elapsed  between  his  installation  and  his  wanton 
cruel   murder  by   Henry    IV.,   the  building  seems  to  have 


120  YORK  MINSTER 

made  rapid  progress.  This  was  energetically  continued  by 
Henry  Bowet,  who  followed  him,  and  who,  invoking  the 
aid  of  Pope  Gregory  XII.  to  enforce  his  appeal  for  funds, 
and  enlisting  the  aid  of  Skirlaw,  Bishop  of  Durham,  one  of 
the  greatest  architects  of  Mediaeval  times,  glazed  the  great 
east  window,  raised  the  lantern  on  the  central  tower,  com- 
pleted the  groining  of  the  choir  aisles,  rebuilt  Archbishop 
Zouche's  chapel,  the  treasury  and  vestry  and  commenced 
the  library. 

Little  now  remained  to  be  done.  Robert  Wolvedon  and 
John  de  Bermyngham,  two  munificent  treasurers  in  succes- 
sion, helped  to  bring  matters  to  a  prosperous  conclusion,  the 
former  filling  some  of  the  windows  with  painted  glass,  the 
latter  raising  the  southwestern  tower.  The  northwestern 
tower  was  added  probably  during  the  archiepiscopate,  if  not 
by  the  munificence,  of  Archbishop  George  Nevill.  The 
organ  screen,  with  its  elaborate  cornice  and  canopies  en- 
riched with  angels,  singing  and  playing  instruments  of  mu- 
sic and  its  stately  niches  filled  with  figures  of  the  Kings  of 
England,  from  William  I.  to  Henry  VI.,  by  Dean  Andrew, 
himself  the  friend  and  secretary  of  the  last-named  monarch. 
And  the  great  church  was  solemnly  reconsecrated  as  a  com- 
pleted building  on  July  3,  1472,  when  an  ordinance  was 
passed  by  the  Dean  and  Chapter  that  "  on  the  same  day  the 
feast  of  the  Dedication  shall  be  celebrated  in  time  to  come." 

I  have  no  space  to  dwell  on  all  the  innumerable  details  of 
architectural  ornament  or  quaint  Mediaeval  devices  which 
decorate  the  walls,  neither  on  the  many  interesting  monu- 
ments scattered  throughout  the  aisles,  such  as  the  delicate 
piscinas,  or  the  fiddler,  a  modern  reproduction  of  an  old 
figure  which  had  crowned  the  little  spiral  turret  of  the  south 
transept,  intended  as  a  portrait  of  Dr.  Camidge,  the  organist, 


YORK  MINSTER  121 

at  the  beginning  of  this  century  j  or  the  tomb  of  good  Arch- 
bishop Frewen,  the  first  prelate  of  the  Province  after  the 
Restoration. 

But  even  a  sketch  of  York  Minster  would  not  be  com- 
plete without  some  mention  of  the  glass,  for  if  the  beauty 
in  the  form  of  our  '■'■  fios  fiorum  "  is  due  to  its  architecture, 
very  much  of  its  beauty  in  colour  depends  on  the  glowing 
and  mellowed  tints  with  which  its  windows  are  filled.  But 
It  is  a  large  subject  to  enter  upon,  for  as  regards  quantity 
there  are  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  three  windows  in 
the  Minster,  most  of  them  entirely,  and  the  remainder,  only 
excepting  the  tracery,  filled  with  real  old  Mediaeval  glass. 
Some  of  the  windows,  too,  are  of  great  size.  The  east  win- 
dow, which  is  entirely  filled  with  old  glass,  consists  of  nine 
lights  and  measures  seventy-eight  feet  in  height,  thirty-one 
feet  two  inches  in  width.  The  two  choir  transept  windows, 
that  in  the  north  transept  to  St.  William,  and  the  south  to 
St.  Cuthbert,  measure  seventy-three  feet  by  sixteen  feet. 
They  have  both  been  restored,  the  latter  very  recently,  but 
by  far  the  greater  part  of  them  is  old  glass.  On  each  side 
of  the  choir,  the  aisles  contain  nine  windows  measuring 
fourteen  feet  nine  inches  by  twelve  feet,  only  the  tracery 
lights  of  which  are  modern  ;  the  same  number  of  windows 
fill  the  clerestory  above,  the  greater  portions  of  which  are 
ancient. 

The  famous  window  of  the  north  transept,  the  Five  Sis- 
ters, consists  of  five  lights,  each  measuring  fifty-three  feet 
six  inches  by  five  feet  one  inch,  and  is  entirely  of  old  glass. 
There  are  six  windows  in  the  north  and  six  in  the  south 
aisles  of  the  nave,  with  only  a  little  modern  glass  in  the 
tracery.  The  superb  Flamboyant  window  at  the  west  end 
of  the  centre  aisle  measures  fifty-six  feet   three  inches  by 


122  YORK  MINSTER 

twenty-five  feet  four  inches,  and  consists,  I  believe,  en- 
tirely of  old  glass,  except  the  faces  of  the  figures.  The 
clerestory  windows  are  studded  with  ancient  shields,  but  a 
great  part  of  the  glass  is,  I  fancy,  modern  ;  those  of  the 
vestibule,  eight  in  number,  measuring  thirty-two  feet  by 
eighteen,  are  of  old  glass,  including  the  tracery  lights.  And 
in  the  Chapter  House,  the  seven  windows  of  five  lights  each 
are  filled  with  old  glass.  The  east  window  has  been  clum- 
sily restored  by  Willement.  In  the  side  windows  of  the 
transept  there  is  some  old  glass,  and  the  great  rose  window 
over  the  south  entrance  still  retains  much  of  the  old  glass ; 
while  far  overhead  in  the  tower  there  are  some  really  fine 
bold  designs  of  late,  but  genuine,  design  and  execution. 
Altogether,  according  to  actual  measurements,  there  are 
25,531  superficial  feet  of  Mediaeval  glass  in  the  Minster, 
/.  <f.,  more  than  half  an  acre — a  possession,  we  should  think, 
unequalled  by  any  church  in  England,  if  not  in  Christen- 
dom. 

Truly  at  the  Reformation,  the  building  must  have  been 
*'y?w  Jloru7n"  enriched  with  everything  which  the  taste  of 
man  could  devise  or  his  skill  execute.  The  massive  walls, 
fashioned  according  to  the  highest  canons  of  Early  English, 
Decorated  and  Perpendicular  architectural  taste,  the  great 
windows  glowing  with  painted  glass  of  each  successive 
style,  the  vast  area  subdivided  by  stately  screens  of  carved 
wood  and  stone  into  countless  chapels  and  chantries ; 
shrines  glittering  with  offerings  of  precious  and  jewelled 
metals,  and  adorned  with  coloured  gilding ;  the  treasury 
stored,  as  the  fabric  roll  tells  us,  with  gold  and  silver  plate 
in  rich  profusion  ;  and  vestments  of  the  most  costly  and 
approved  fabrics. 


BURGOS  CATHEDRAL 

EDMONDO  DE  AMICIS 

THE  Cathedral  of  Burgos  is  one  of  the  largest,  hand- 
somest and  richest  monuments  of  Christianity.  Ten 
times  I  wrote  these  words  at  the  head  of  my  page,  and  ten 
times  the  courage  to  proceed  failed  me,  so  inadequate  and 
pitiful  I  felt  my  mental  powers  in  face  of  the  difficulty  of 
the  description. 

The  facade  is  on  a  small  square,  from  which  one  may 
take  in  at  a  glance  a  part  of  the  immense  edifice  ;  around 
the  other  side  run  narrow  tortuous  streets,  which  impede 
the  view.  From  all  the  points  of  the  immense  roof  rise 
slender  and  graceful  spires,  overloaded  with  ornaments  of 
brown  chalk  colour,  rising  above  the  highest  buildings  of 
the  city.  On  the  front,  to  the  right  and  left  of  the  facade, 
are  two  sharp  bell-towers,  covered  from  base  to  summit  with 
sculpture,pierced,  chiselled  and  embroidered  with  a  bewitch- 
ing delicacy  and  grace.  Further  in,  about  the  middle  of 
the  church,  rises  a  tower  also  very  rich  with  bas-reliefs  and 
friezes.  On  the  facade,  on  the  points  of  the  bell-towers, 
on  all  the  surfaces,  under  all  the  arches,  on  all  the  sides, 
there  is  an  innumerable  multitude  of  statues  of  angels, 
martyrs,  warriors  and  princes,  so  crowded,  so  varied  in  at- 
titude, and  placed  in  such  clear  relief  from  the  light  forms 
of  the  edifice,  as  almost  to  present  a  lifelike  appearance, 
like  a  celestial  legion  posted  to  guard  the  monument.  On 
raising  one's  eyes  up  over  the  facade  to  the  furthest  point 


124  BURGOS  CATHEDRAL 

of  the  exterior  spires,  grasping  little  by  little  all  that  harmo- 
nious lightness  of  line  and  colour,  one  experiences  a  delicious 
sensation  like  hearing  music,  which  gradually  rises  from  an 
expression  of  absorbed  prayer  to  the  ecstasy  of  a  sublime 
inspiration.  Before  entering  the  church  your  imagination 
mounts  far  above  the  earth. 

Enter.  .  .  .  The  first  emotion  that  you  experience 
is  a  sudden  fortifying  of  faith,  if  you  have  any,  and  a  leap 
of  the  soul  towards  faith,  if  it  is  wanting  in  you.  First  you 
turn  your  eyes  vaguely  about  you,  seeking  the  confines  of 
the  edifice,  which  the  enormous  choir  and  pilasters  conceal 
from  you  ;  then  your  glance  darts  among  the  columns  and 
high  arches,  falls,  mounts,  and  runs  rapidly  over  the  infinity 
of  lines  which  follow  each  other,  cross,  correspond  and  lose 
themselves,  like  rays  that  cross  in  space,  up  in  the  great  vault ; 
and  your  heart  rejoices  in  that  breathless  admiration,  as  if 
all  those  lines  issued  from  your  own  mind,  inspired  by  the 
mere  act  of  looking  at  them  with  your  eyes;  then  you  are 
seized  suddenly  with  a  feeling  almost  of  terror,  a  feeling  of 
sadness  that  there  is  not  time  enough  in  which  to  contem- 
plate, nor  intellect  with  which  to  comprehend,  nor  memory 
to  retain  the  innumerable  marvels,  half  seen,  crowded  to- 
gether, piled  upon  one  another,  and  dazzling,  which  one 
would  say  came  from  the  hand  of  man,  if  one  dared  say  so, 
like  a  second  creation  from  the  hand  of  God. 

The  church  belongs  to  the  Order  called  Gothic,  of  the 
epoch  of  the  Renaissance  ;  it  is  divided  into  three  very  long 
naves  traversed  in  the  middle  by  a  fourth  which  separates 
the  choir  from  the  high  altar.  Above  the  space  contained 
between  the  altar  and  the  choir,  rises  a  cupola  formed  by 
the  tower  which  is  seen  from  the  piazza.  You  turn  your 
eyes  upwards,  and  remain  open-mouthed  for  a  quarter  of  an 


.N*^^^" 


UiiMI?-%.¥ite.-»&'S»ii?>* 


?®s^" 


BURGOS  CATHEDRAL  1 25 

hour :  it  is  a  maze  of  bas-reliefs,  statues,  little  columns, 
tiny  windows,  arabesques,  hanging  arches,  aerial  sculpture 
harmonized  in  a  grandiose  and  elegant  plan,  which  at  first 
sight  produces  both  a  tremor  and  a  smile,  like  the  sudden 
ignition,  burst  and  glow  of  a  great  display  of  fireworks.  A 
thousand  vague  imaginings  of  Paradise  that  delighted  your 
infantile  dreams  surge  up  all  together  from  your  state  of 
ecstasy  and  mounting  like  a  cloud  of  butterflies,  settle  on 
the  thousand  reliefs  of  the  highest  vault  and  circle  and  be- 
come confused,  and  your  eyes  follow  them  as  if  they  really 
existed,  and  your  heart  beats,  and  your  breast  heaves  with 
a  sigh. 

If  you  lower  your  eyes  from  the  cupola  and  look  around 
you,  a  still  more  stupendous  spectacle  presents  itself.  The 
chapels,  by  their  size,  variety  and  richness,  are  so  many 
churches.  In  every  one  of  them  a  prince,  or  a  bishop,  or  a 
grandee  is  sepulchred :  the  tomb  is  in  the  centre  and  on  it  is 
the  statute  representing  the  buried  man,  with  his  head  rest- 
ing on  a  pillow,  and  hands  joined  above  his  breast ;  the 
clergy  dressed  in  their  most  splendid  robes,  the  princes  in 
their  armour,  and  the  ladies  in  gala  costume.  All  these 
tombs  are  covered  with  a  big  cloth  that  falls  to  the  ground, 
and,  accommodating  itself  to  the  angular  reliefs  of  the 
statue,  makes  it  look  as  if  underneath  were  really  the  rigid 
members  of  a  human  body.  In  whatever  direction  you 
turn,  you  see  in  the  distance,  among  the  enormous  pilasters, 
through  the  rich  grilles^  in  the  uncertain  light  that  falls  from 
the  lofty  windows  those  tombs,  those  funeral  trappings  and 
those  rigid  corpse  profiles.  Approaching  the  chapels,  you 
are  amazed  at  the  profusion  of  carvings,  marbles  and  gold 
which  adorn  the  walls,  vaultings  and  altars :  every  chapel 
contains  an  army  of  angels  and  saints  carved  in  marble  and 


126  BURGOS  CATHEDRAL 

wood,  painted,  gilded  and  clothed;  on  whatever  point  of  the 
pavement  your  eye  falls  it  is  forced  upwards  from  bas-relief 
to  bas-relief,  from  niche  to  niche,  from  arabesque  to  ara- 
besque, from  painting  to  painting,  till  it  reaches  the  vault,  and 
from  the  vault,  by  another  chain  of  sculptures  and  paintings, 
it  is  .led  back  to  the  pavement.  On  whatever  side  you  turn 
your  eyes,  you  meet  eyes  that  are  gazing  at  you,  hands  that 
are  beckoning  you,  cherub  heads  that  are  peeping  at  you, 
scarfs  that  seem  to  wave,  clouds  that  appear  to  rise,  crystal 
suns  that  seem  to  tremble ;  an  infinite  variety  of  forms, 
colours  and  reflections  that  dazzle  your  eyes  and  confuse 
your  brain. 

A  volume  would  not  suffice  for  the  description  of  all  the 
masterpieces  of  sculpture  and  painting  which  are  scattered 
throughout  this  immense  Cathedral.  In  the  sacristy  of  the 
Chapel  of  the  Constables  of  Castile  is  a  lovely  Magdalen 
attributed  to  Leonardo  da  Vinci ;  in  the  Chapel  of  the 
Presentation  is  a  Virgin  attributed  to  Michael  Angelo;  in 
another  is  a  Holy  Family  attributed  to  Andrea  del  Sarto. 
The  author  of  none  of  the  three  paintings  is  known  with 
certainty  ;  but  when  I  saw  the  covering  curtains  drawn 
aside,  and  heard  those  names  uttered  in  reverent  tones,  a 
thrill  ran  through  me  from  head  to  foot.  For  the  first  time 
I  felt  with  full  force  what  a  debt  of  gratitude  I  owe  to  the 
great  artists  who  have  made  the  name  of  Italy  revered  and 
loved  in  the  world.  How  many  smiles,  how  many  hand- 
shakes, how  many  courteous  words  from  strangers  we  owe 
to  Raphael,  Michael  Angelo,  Ariosto,  and  Rossini ! 

He  who  wants  to  see  this  Cathedral  in  one  day  must 
hasten  by  the  masterpieces.  The  sculptured  door  which 
leads  into  the  cloisters  is  celebrated  as  being,  after  the  doors 
of  the    Baptistery  at   Florence,  the    most   beautiful    in   the 


BURGOS  CATHEDRAL  1 27 

world ;  behind  the  high  altar  is  an  enormous  bas-relief  by 
Filippo  di  Firenze,  representing  Christ's  Passion,  an  im- 
mense composition  for  which,  one  would  think,  a  man's 
whole  lifetime  insufficient ;  the  choir  is  a  real  museum  of 
sculpture  of  the  most  prodigious  richness ;  the  cloisters  are 
full  of  tombs  with  recumbent  statues,  and  all  around  is  a 
profusion  of  bas-reliefs  ;  in  the  chapels,  around  the  choir,  in 
the  sacristy  halls,  and  everywhere  else  are  pictures  by  the 
greatest  Spanish  artists,  statuettes,  columns,  and  ornaments  ; 
the  high  altar,  the  organs,  the  doors,  the  staircases,  the 
ironwork, — all  is  grand  and  magnificent,  and  arouses,  and 
at  the  same  time  awes,  our  admiration.  But  why  multiply 
words?  Could  the  most  minute  description  give  even  a 
faint  idea  of  the  thing  ?  And  if  I  had  written  a  whole 
page  for  each  picture,  each  statue,  each  bas-relief,  should  I 
have  succeeded  in  exciting  in  another  mind,  even  for  an  in- 
stant, the  emotion  that  I  experienced? 


CHALONS-SUR-MARNE 
JEAN    JACQUES    BOURASSE 

ST.  ALPIN,  made  a  bishop  in  the  Fifth  Century,  is  re- 
garded as  the  first  to  raise  a  Christian  altar  in  this 
city.  Clovis  favoured  the  Church,  and  St.  Vincent's  be- 
came the  Cathedral,  the  name  of  which  was  changed  to  St. 
Stephen.  During  the  wars  of  the  Tenth  Century,  the 
building  twice  suffered  from  fire ;  and,  during  the  Twelfth 
Century,  lightning  reduced  it  to  a  heap  of  ruins.  It  was 
rebuilt;  and  consecrated  amid  great  rejoicings  in  1147. 
Eighty-three  years  later,  it  was  again  almost  totally  des- 
troyed by  lightning  and  fire.  Its  restoration  was  entirely 
carried  out  by  Philippe  II.  de  Nemours  de  Merville. 

New  additions  were  made  by  Gilles  de  Luxembourg  and 
Henri  Clausse.  The  former  built  a  fine  wooden  spire  on 
the  north  tower  which  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  marvels 
of  its  time.  The  latter  enlarged  the  nave  with  two  bays. 
This  addition  necessitated  the  destruction  of  a  porch  of 
great  merit,  and  in  perfect  accord  with  the  rest  of  the  mon- 
ument. A  heavy  and  ugly  facade  took  its  place  in  1628, 
which  was  characteristic  of  the  fatal  principles  that  more 
than  a  century  before  had  dethroned  Mediaeval  Christian 
art. 

In  1668,  a  terrible  fire  again  wrought  almost  total  de- 
struction ;  but  the  Bishop  Vialart  de  Herse  soon  found 
means  to  remove  all  traces  of  the  calamity. 

A  terrible  tempest  in  1769  destroyed  the  rose  window  in 


CHALONS-SUR-MARNt,   CA  I'HEDRAL 


CHALONS-SUR-MARNE  1 29 

the  southern  porch  ;  and  to  complete  the  list  of  disasters, 
it  was  found  necessary  to  demolish  the  two  spires  in 
1821. 

The  exterior  aspect  of  the  Chalons  Cathedral  is  not  want- 
ing in  grandeur  and  majesty,  although  not  so  picturesque 
as  many  other  Mediaeval  churches.  The  large  faces  are 
not  ornamented  with  those  numerous  arches  whose  grace- 
ful curves  resemble  arms  stretched  out  towards  the  Cathe- 
dral to  beautify  as  well  as  to  strengthen  it.  The  buttresses 
do  not  exhibit  that  boldness  and  symmetry  that  are  so 
pleasing  in  a  big  monument.  The  exterior  of  the  apse  es- 
pecially does  not  present  that  distribution  of  projections 
and  hollows  that  produces  a  striking  perspective.  The 
western  porch  can  arouse  only  severe  strictures. 

The  northern  porch,  although  in  a  sad  state  of  mutila- 
tion, yet  deserves  the  attention  of  antiquaries.  It  is  a  great 
pointed  arch  with  deep  vaultings  filled  with  six  rows  of 
statuettes.  The  dais,  pinnacles,  colonnettes,  fleurons  and 
leaf-work  were  cruelly  damaged  during  the  Revolution,  in 
1792.  The  statues  were  the  first  to  be  sacrificed  to  that 
amazing  fury  of  destruction  that  seemed  to  have  taken  pos- 
session of  all  minds.  This  monumental  doorway  to-day 
gives  but  an  imperfect  idea  of  its  ancient  splendour.  The 
great  rose  window  that  still  remains  above  it  is  its  principal 
ornament ;  it  is  a  match  for  any  of  the  famous  ones.  The 
various  compartments  that  join  and  interlace  to  compose  it 
are  of  aerial  lightness.  The  work  and  disposition  of  the 
mullions  indicate  the  close  of  the  Thirteenth  or  beginning 
of  the  Fourteenth  Century. 

The  neighbouring  tower  is  a  curious  study ;  it  has  been 
held  that  its  base  is  of  Carlovingian  architecture  ;  but  the 
characteristic  parts  incontestably  denote  the  Eleventh  Cen- 


130  CHALONS-SUR-MARNE 

tury.  The  windows  are  round  headed  ;  and  are  accom- 
panied by  colonnettes  with  capitals  belonging  to  the  second- 
ary Romano-Byzantine  epoch. 

The  two  stone  spires,  rebuilt  in  1821,  are  far  from  de- 
serving of  their  reputation.  It  would  be  hard  to  find  stone 
more  heavily  laid,  with  ornaments  more  coarsely  cut. 

In  the  interior  of  the  Cathedral  we  find  parts  of  the  high- 
est merit,  with  a  few  slight  faults.  The  plan  is  in  form  of 
a  Latin  cross.  As  at  Metz,  the  transept  is  closer  to  the 
apse  than  in  the  other  great  Gothic  cathedrals.  This  dis- 
position has  necessitated  the  enlargement  of  the  choir  at 
the  expense  of  the  width  of  the  transept,  and  even  of  the 
great  nave.  Starting  from  the  pillars  of  the  transept,  the 
apse  contains  only  seven  bays,  and  finds  itself  destined 
solely  for  the  sanctuary.  Around  the  head,  we  admire 
three  magnificent  apsidal  chapels,  the  central  one  of  which 
is  dedicated  to  the  Virgin.  Nothing  more  graceful  than 
the  work  of  these  chapels  exists  anywhere.  The  heavy 
columns  and  compact  vault  of  the  apse  itself  is  assuredly 
not  contemporaneous  with  the  elegant  columns,  light  vaults 
and  marvellous  windows  of  these  three  chapels. 

The  chapels  along  the  aisles  of  the  nave  indicate  an 
epoch  of  decadence.  They  are  small  and  ill-disposed,  ex- 
cept one  which  bears  the  imprint  of  Renaissance  art.  The 
architectural  decoration  belongs  to  that  transitional  period. 

The  great  nave  is  one  of  the  most  majestic  of  all  French 
cathedrals.  It  is  composed  of  ten  bays  and  supported  by 
eighteen  pillars.  These  are  cylindrical,  and  worthy  of  par- 
ticular notice.  Their  appendiculate  bases  indicate  a  more 
ancient  date  than  their  capitals  of  leaf-work.  The  lower 
part  really  belongs  to  an  older  epoch  than  the  upper  which 
must  have  been  rebuilt  after  one  of  the  numerous  catastro- 


CHALONS-SUR-MARNE  131 

phes  that  on  various  occasions  injured  or  destroyed  the 
building. 

The  vaults  have  been  recently  almost  entirely  rebuilt. 
They  have  been  executed  with  care  and  intelligence.  We 
cannot  say  as  much  for  the  organ  loft,  which  is  a  mean 
construction  covered  with  Gothic  ornaments  in  plaster 
which  are  already  crumbling  away. 

The  windows  generally  are  wide  and  beautiful.  Those 
of  the  sanctuary,  particularly,  open  out  with  much  elegance. 
They  harmonize  with  the  open  galleries  and  communicate 
to  all  the  upper  part  of  the  building  a  remarkable  lightness. 
It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  most  of  them  have  lost 
their  magnificent  glass,  and  are  filled  with  reproductions  of 
the  original  subjects. 

The  Chalons  Cathedral  is  very  rich  in  monuments  of  an- 
other kind.  Almost  the  entire  pavement  is  composed  of 
tombstones  of  fine  execution.  They  are  of  various  periods, 
and  the  majority  are  well  preserved.  Unfortunately,  by  an 
inexplicable  vandalism,  many  of  them  have  been  cut.  Frag- 
ments, still  admirable  in  spite  of  their  mutilation,  are  to  be 
found  set  here  and  there  at  haphazard. 


WINCHESTER  CATHEDRAL 

DEAN  KITCHEN 

IN  the  fair  valley  of  the  Itchen,  where  the  downs  on 
either  hand  draw  near  together,  has  stood  from  pre- 
historic days  a  little  town  which  grew  to  be  Winchester, 
one  of  the  most  important  capital  cities  of  England.  The 
first  authentic  records  of  it  are  those  which  have  been  dug 
out  of  the  soil,  not  written  in  books.  There  is  a  doubt 
whether  the  Saxon  cathedral  was  on  the  site  of  the  present 
building,  or  a  little  to  the  northward  of  it ;  at  any  rate, 
whatever  Saxon  work  there  may  be  in  it  has  been  com- 
pletely incorporated,  and  we  shall  not  go  far  wrong  if  we 
consider  that  the  existing  church  was  begun  by  Bishop 
Walkelyn  in  1079.  The  magnificence  of  Norman  skill 
and  piety  may  still  be  understood  by  any  one  who  will  make 
careful  study  of  the  two  transepts,  which  remain  almost  as 
Walkelyn  left  them  in  1093.  From  them  we  may  picture 
the  glory  of  the  long  and  lofty  nave,  its  massive  piers, 
broad,  deep  triforlum  and  dignified  clerestory.  The  orig- 
inal tower,  however,  was  not  destined  to  stand  long.  Soon 
after  William  Rufus  was  buried  under  it,  in  iioo,  whether 
from  faulty  construction,  or  uncertain  foundations  in  the 
wet  ground,  or  from  being  weakened  by  excavating  too  near 
the  piers;  or  whether,  as  the  resentfully  pious  held,  from 
the  cankering  wickedness  of  the  Red  King's  bones — from 
whatever  cause — in  1107  the  tower  fell  in  with  a  mighty 
crash  over  the  monarch's  tomb.     Walkelyn,  however,  left 


WINCHESTER  CATHEDRAL  1 33 

funds  to  the  church,  and  a  new  tower  was  carried  out  with 
massive  firmness. 

There  is  but  little  in  the  church  of  Decorated  or  Middle- 
Pointed  style  i  four  bays  of  the  choir,  unrivalled  in  grace 
and  richness  of  mouldings  and  the  tracery  of  one  or  two 
windows,  are  all  that  Winchester  can  show  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  exuberant  period  of  English  architecture. 

Satiated  with  the  rich  ornamentation  and  variety  of  the 
period,  men,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  Fourteenth  Century, 
turned  towards  a  harder  and  a  simpler  manner  of  building, 
a  severe  architectural  Puritanism.  They  trusted  for  effect  to 
height  and  repetition  even  to  monotony,  and  to  the  upward 
pointing  of  reiterated  vertical  lines.  Winchester  Cathedral 
was  the  first  to  feel  the  influence  of  this  change  of  taste. 
First,  Bishop  William  of  Edyndon,  then  the  more  famous 
William  of  Wykeham,  attacked  and  "reformed  "  the  mass- 
ive and  noble  Norman  work.  Edyndon  began  at  the  west 
end,  altering  the  facade  completely,  and  converting  to  mod- 
ern style  two  bays  on  the  north  and  one  on  the  south. 
The  huge  west  window,  which  forms  the  main  feature  of 
the  facade,  has  been  mercilessly  criticised  and  condemned 
by  Mr.  Ruskin  in  his  Stones  of  Venice^  who  first  draws  a 
caricature  of  the  window,  and  then  condemns  his  own 
creation. 

The  work  thus  set  in  hand  by  Edyndon  was  carried 
through  by  William  of  Wykeham,  who,  through  his  col- 
leges, has  imposed  the  unimaginative  Perpendicular  style  on 
England.  He  did  not  pull  down  the  ancient  Norman  nave, 
but  encased  the  columns  with  poor  mouldings  of  this  later 
Gothic.  Bishop  Fox  built  up  the  east  end  of  the  choir, 
placing  on  the  central  pinnacle  a  lifelike  statue  of  himself. 
To   him   also   is   due,  in    its   striking   height  and  exquisite 


134  WINCHESTER  CATHEDRAL 

elaboration  of  detailed  canopy  work,  the  great  reredos, 
which  is  repeated,  with  less  happy  effect  of  proportion,  at 
St.  Albans. 

Just  before,  and  in  his  day.  Priors  Hunton  and  Silkstede 
pushed  out  the  Lady  Chapel  some  twenty-six  feet  in  the 
later  Perpendicular  manner.  This  additional  bay  of  the 
Lady  Chapel,  with  its  stiff  ornament  and  half-obliterated 
frescoes,  made  this  church  the  longest  in  England. 

With  the  death  of  Bishop  Fox  in  1528,  the  structural 
changes  in  the  fabric  almost  came  to  an  end.  Later  addi- 
tions or  alterations  were  but  small ;  such  as  the  closing  of 
the  fine  Norman  lantern  of  the  tower  with  a  wooden  groin- 
ing, erected  under  the  eyes  of  Charles  L,  as  we  see  by  the 
bosses  and  ornaments ;  there  is  the  royal  monogram  in 
many  forms  and  royal  badges  and  the  initials  of  the  King 
and  Queen,  C.  M.  R.  (Carolus,  Maria  R.),  and  a  large  cir- 
cular medallion  displaying  in  profile  the  royal  pair  them- 
selves ;  in  the  centre  is  an  inscription  giving  us  the  date  of 
this  work,  1634.  The  library,  a  lean-to  along  the  end  of 
the  south  transept,  was  built  to  hold  Bishop  Morley's  books 
after  his  death  in  1684;  and  the  porch  at  the  west  end  was 
restored  in  the  present  century. 

Within  the  walls  the  most  striking  object  of  interest  is 
undoubtedly  the  famous  Norman  font  of  black  basaltic 
stone,  which  was  probably  placed  In  the  church  In  the  days 
of  Walkelyn  ;  it  portrays  in  bold  if  rude  relief  the  life  and 
miracles  of  St.  Nicholas  of  Myra.  Next  after  the  font 
may  perhaps  be  noted  the  fine  carved  spandrels,  Fourteenth 
Century  work,  of  the  choir-stalls,  with  the  quaint  misereres 
of  the  seats  ;  then  Prior  Silkstede's  richly  carved  pulpit  of 
the  Fifteenth  Century,  and  the  very  interesting  and  valuable 
Renaissance  panels  of  the  pews,  put  In  by  William  Kings- 


WINCHESTER  CATHEDRAL  135 

mill,  last  prior  and  first  dean  in  1540.  The  chantries  and 
tombs  in  this  church  are  of  unusual  beauty  and  interest. 

In  no  English  church,  except  Westminster  Abbey  and 
St.  Paul's,  lie  so  many  men  of  name.  For  just  as  the  fea- 
tures of  the  Cathedral  represent  all  the  successive  phases 
and  changes  of  the  art  of  building,  until  it  has  been  styled 
a  "  School  of  English  Architecture,"  so  it  may  be  said  to 
be  the  home  and  centre  of  our  early  history.  Long  is  the 
roll  of  kings  and  statesmen  who  came  hither  and  whose 
bones  here  lie  at  rest.  Cynegils  and  Cenwalh,  West- 
Saxon  kings,  founders  of  the  church,  are  here ;  Egbert  was 
buried  here  in  838 ;  Ethelwulf  also  and  Edward  the  Elder 
and  Edred.  The  body  of  Alfred  the  Great  lay  a  while  in 
the  church,  then  was  transferred  to  the  new  minster  he  had 
built,  and  finally  rested  at  Hyde  Abbey.  And,  most  splen- 
did name  of  all,  the  great  Cnut  was  buried  here,  as  was  also 
his  son,  Harthacnut,  as  bad  and  mean  as  his  father  was 
great.  The  roll  of  kings  was  closed  when  Red  William's 
blood-dripping  corpse  came  jolting  hither  in  the  country 
cart  from  the  New  Forest. 

In  this  great  church  many  stirring  scenes  of  English  his- 
tory have  been  enacted.  The  early  kings  made  Winchester 
their  home  and  the  Cathedral  their  chapel.  Here  it  was 
that  Egbert,  after  being  crowned  in  regem  totius  Brittanies^ 
with  assent  of  all  parties,  issued  an  edict  in  828,  ordering 
that  the  island  should  thereafter  be  always  styled  England 
and  its  people  Englishmen.  Here  King  Alfred  was 
crowned  and  lived  and  died.  Here  in  1035  Cnut's  body 
lay  in  state  before  the  high  altar,  over  which  was  hung 
thenceforth  for  many  a  year,  most  precious  of  relics,  the 
great  Norseman's  crown.  Here  William  the  Conqueror 
often   came,  and  wore   his   crown   at  the   Easter   Gemot; 


136  WINCHESTER  CATHEDRAL 

here,  too,  clustered  many  of  the  national  legends :  St. 
Swithun  here  did  his  mighty  works,  and  here  were  the  forty 
dismal  days  of  rain  j  hard  by  is  the  scene  of  the  great  fight 
between  Colbrand  the  Dane  and  Guy  of  Warwick ;  in  the 
nave  of  the  church  Queen  Emma  trod  triumphant  on  the 
red-hot  ploughshares  as  on  a  bed  of  roses  ;  hither  came  Earl 
Godwin's  body  after  his  marvellous  and  terrible  death,  one 
of  the  well-known  group  of  malignant  Norman  tales.  It 
was  in  Winchester  Cathedral  that  Henry  Beauclerk  took  to 
wife  his  Queen,  Matilda,  to  the  great  joy  of  all  English- 
speaking  folk.  Here  Stephen  of  Blois  was  crowned  King ; 
and  here,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Empress  Maud  was  wel- 
comed by  city  and  people  with  high  rejoicings  ;  here,  too, 
was  drawn  up  and  issued  the  final  compact,  in  1153,  which 
closed  the  civil  war  of  that  weary  reign,  and  secured  the 
crown  to  the  young  Prince  Henry.  He  in  his  turn  often 
sojourned  in  Winchester,  and  befriended,  in  his  strong 
way,  the  growing  city.  The  Cathedral  witnessed  another 
compact  in  the  dark  days  of  King  John  :  the  King  was  here 
reconciled  to  the  English  Church  in  the  person  of  Stephen 
Langton ;  Henry  HI.  and  his  Queen,  Eleanor,  were  herein 
1242  ;  and  on  May-day  of  that  year  "came  the  Queen  into  the 
chapter-house  to  receive  society."  In  1275  Edward  I.,  with 
his  Queen,  was  welcomed  with  great  honour  by  the  prior  and 
brethren  of  St.  Swithun,  and  attended  service  in  the  church. 
The  christening  of  Arthur,  Prince  of  Wales,  elder  brother 
of  Henry  VIII.,  was  here;  and  here  Henry  VIII.  met  his 
astute  rival,  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  It  was  in  Winchester 
Cathedral  that  the  marriage  of  Philip  and  Mary  took  place, 
and  the  chair  in  which  she  sat  is  still  to  be  seen  in  the 
church.  The  Stuart  kings  loved  the  place.  Here  in  the 
great  rebellion  was  enacted  that  strange  scene  when,  after 


WINCHESTER  CATHEDRAL  1 37 

the  capture  of  the  city,  the  mob  rushed  into  the  Cathedral, 
wild  for  booty  and  mischief,  and  finding  in  the  chests  noth- 
ing but  bones,  amused  themselves  by  throwing  them  at  the 
stained  windows  of  the  choir.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
Colonel  Nathaniel  Fiennes,  a  Parliamentary  officer  and  an 
old  Wykehamist,  stood  with  drawn  sword  at  the  door  of 
Wykeham's  chantry,  to  protect  it  from  violence.  Since  the 
days  of  the  Merry  Monarch,  who  was  often  at  Winchester, 
and  loved  it  so  well  that  he  built  his  palace  here,  no  striking 
historical  events  have  been  enacted  within  its  walls.  The 
church  by  degrees  recovered  from  the  ruin  of  the  Common- 
wealth time,  and  has  had  a  quiet  happy  life  from  that  time 
onward,  a  tranquil  grey  building,  sleeping  amidst  its  trees, 
in  the  heart  of  the  most  charming  of  all  South  English  cities. 


TOURS  CATHEDRAL 

STANISLAS  BELLANGER 

THE  church  of  St.  Gatien,  the  first  bishop  of  Tours,  bore 
his  name  and  that  of  St.  Maurice,  the  brave  chief  of 
the  Theban  Legion,  indiscriminately,  until  the  Fifteenth 
Century.  It  was  consumed  by  fire  in  559  ;  and  again,  in 
1 160.  Bishop  Jocion  then  determined  to  rebuild  and  make 
it  more  beautiful  than  ever. 

The  Gothic  era  of  architecture  had  just  begun.  It  was 
under  the  inspiration  of  this  new  style  that  Jocion  had  his 
basilica  reconstructed.  The  work,  undertaken  with  ardour 
in  1170,  soon  began  to  halt,  and  at  the  end  of  ninety  years, 
so  far  there  had  been  built  only  the  fifteen  chapels  of  the 
apse,  the  sanctuary,  the  choir,  the  transept  and  the  nave  up 
to  the  second  column.  Vincent  de  Permil  personally  pre- 
sided over  these  last  constructions,  and,  fifty  years  later,  the 
two  porches  of  the  transept  were  completed. 

In  despair  at  the  slow  rate  of  progress,  and  fearing  lack  of 
funds  to  complete  the  work,  the  Chapter  in  1375  erected  a 
bell-tower  of  wood  over  the  nave.  It  nearly  proved  fatal  to 
the  new  edifice  ;  for,  in  1425,  it  was  set  on  fire  and  destroyed 
by  lightning.  In  1426,  the  completion  of  the  twin  towers 
was  undertaken  ;  and  four  years  later  the  church  was  ordered 
to  be  entirely  finished.  The  generosity  of  three  popes  and 
an  archbishop  greatly  assisted  the  work  in  stimulating  activ- 
ity and  devotion,  which  soon  bore  fruit.  The  grand  facade 
was  finished  in  1500  j  and  the  two  towers,  those  two  marvel- 


TOURS   CATHEDRAL 


TOURS  CATHEDRAL  1 39 

lous  gems  that  are  still  waiting  for  the  case  that  Henry  IV. 
later  wished  for  them,  received  their  crowns  between  1507 
and  1547.  Bishop  Robert  de  Lenoncourt  built  the  stone 
staircase  that  leads  to  the  top  of  the  southern  tower  that  bears 
on  the  keystone  of  its  little  dome  the  inscription  recording 
the  completion  of  the  work.  This  marvellous,  spiral,  open- 
work staircase  of  such  bold  construction  seems  to  hang  in 
the  air.  Thanks  to  so  much  generosity  and  devout  zeal 
the  basilica,  begun  in  1170,  was  finished  in  1547,  whence 
comes  the  popular  Touraine  proverb  when  an  interminable 
matter  is  in  question  :     "  It  is  the  work  of  St.  Maurice." 

The  interior,  by  its  proportions,  by  the  boldness  of  its 
vaults,  the  number  and  deiicacy  of  its  columns,  the  pictur- 
esque arrangement  of  its  bays,  and  the  openings  of  its  numer- 
ous windows  fills  the  soul  with  religious  admiration.  In 
extent,  this  basilica  can  not  compete  with  those  of  Reims, 
Chartres,  Burgos,  or  Rouen ;  but  it  may  well  bear  compari- 
son if  it  is  a  question  of  grace,  proportion,  purity  of  style, 
elegance  and  variety  of  form,  and  it  certainly  excels  them 
all  in  lightness  of  construction. 

The  strongest  impression  however  is  not  produced  by 
these  united  marvels  -,  it  comes  especially  from  the  choir 
windows  with  their  painted  stories,  the  galleries,  chapels, 
and  rose  windows,  the  lively  colours  of  which  glow  with  a 
light  from  on  high,  in  rubies,  sapphires,  topazes,  emeralds, 
on  the  tiles,  walls  and  columns. 

These  windows,  charming  productions  of  the  two  great 
periods  of  glass  painting,  in  the  Thirteenth  and  Fifteenth 
Centuries,  number  fifteen,  and  represent  the  Passion  of  the 
Saviour,  the  Tree  of  Jesse,  the  History  of  the  Virgin,  the 
legends  of  St.  Martin,  St.  Maurice,  St.  Eustatius,  St.  Vin- 
cent, St.  Thomas  and  St.  Denis,  visions  from  the  Apocalypse, 


140  TOURS  CATHEDRAL 

the  Creation,  portraits  of  bishops  and  priests  who  have  con- 
secrated their  fortunes  to  the  building  of  the  temple,  and  the 
arms  of  the  city.  Finally,  over  the  great  door,  are  the 
patron  saints  of  the  donors,  members  of  the  illustrious 
family  of  Laval-Montmorency,  whose  brilliant  coat-of-arms 
stands  out  at  the  feet  of  the  statues. 

The  exterior  of  St.  Gatien  is  no  less  remarkable  :  all  the 
parts  are  equally  beautiful,  according  to  their  period.  The 
buttresses,  the  flying  arches  and  the  galleries  are  grouped 
and  designed  in  delightful  perspective  j  the  bases  are  ma- 
jestic and  robust,  particularly  in  the  apse,  where  the  head 
of  the  Cathedral  raises  itself  with  all  the  richness  of  Chris- 
tian architecture. 

The  Cathedral  of  Tours  possesses  what  many  churches 
can  never  buy,  a  complete  facade,  with  three  porches  and  twin 
towers  whose  beauty  would  be  better  appreciated  if  barba- 
rians had  not  laid  sacrilegious  hands  upon  this  facade,  if  the 
niches  were  not  denuded  of  their  saints,  if  the  bas-reliefs 
were  intact,  and  if  all  the  designs  preserved  their  original 
purity. 

In  its  general  construction,  St.  Gatien  has  passed  through 
five  periods :  to  the  last  phase  of  the  Romano-Byzantine 
style  belong  some  arcades  at  the  base  of  the  two  towers, 
which  perhaps  belonged  to  St.  Gregory's  church  ;  to  the  first 
Ogival  period  belong  the  apse,  choir  and  apsidal  chapels ; 
to  the  second  Ogival  period,  the  transept  and  the  two  bays 
of  the  nave;  to  the  third  Ogival,  the  nave,  its  accessory 
chapels  and  the  great  doorway  ;  finally,  to  the  Renaissance 
period,  the  upper  part  of  the  towers,  the  gallery  of  which  is 
reached  by  305  and  the  top  by  392  steps. 

Before  the  Revolution,  this  splendid  edifice  had  a  ring  of 
six  bells:  Lidoire,  weighing  7,108  lbs.  j  Brice,  5,158  lbs.  j 


TOURS  CATHEDRAL  1 4 

Martin,  3,001  lbs. ;  Marie,  3,203  lbs. ;  Maurice,  16,145 
lbs.  Finally,  the  sixth  bell,  Gatien,  cast  in  1627,  by  Jean 
Jacques,  a  skilful  bell  founder  of  Paris,  weighed  20,875  lbs. 
It  was  famous  as  one  of  the  most  perfect  bells  known,  for 
contour,  profile  and  harmony. 

In  1793,  all  these  rare  and  beautiful  bells  were  melted 
down  to  make  copper  coins  and  guns.  Later  their  place 
was  taken  by  the  great  bell  of  Cormery,  Christus^  weighing 
1,850  kilograms,  and  Maur^  from  the  abbey  of  Villeloin, 
weighing  1,250  kilograms. 

A  beautiful  white  marble  tomb,  placed  in  the  chapel  near 
the  organ  door,  is  the  sole  monument  among  several  conse- 
crated to  the  memory  of  various  bishops  that  attracts  the 
attention  of  an  artist.  Erected  by  Anne  of  Brittany  to  the 
four  children  (three  sons  and  a  daughter)  which  that  prin- 
cess had  by  Charles  VIII.,  and  who  all  died  in  infancy,  the 
mausoleum  was  first  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  choir  of  the 
church  of  St.  Martin.  On  the  destruction  of  that  beautiful 
temple,  it  was  transported  into  the  Cathedral. 


ST.  BAVON,  GHENT 

FREDERIC  G.   STEPHENS 

AS  it  now  appears,  this  edifice  is  an  example  of  late 
Gothic  architecture,  which  is  singularly  free,  as 
Mr.  Fergusson  says,  from  the  vices  of  the  Renaissance. 
At  the  time  of  its  erection  most  of  the  buildings  in  France 
and  England  were  but  mockeries  of  art,  or  displayed  the  re- 
sults of  attempts  to  foist  the  ornaments  of  one  style  upon 
the  forms  of  another,  without  consideration  for  the  uses  and 
true  characteristics  of  either.  The  plan  of  St.  Bavon's 
Church  is  cruciform,  with  chapels  round  the  aisles  and  east 
end ;  the  choir  is  apsidal,  with  a  retro-choir  going  com- 
pletely round  it.  The  chapels  are  twenty-four  in  number; 
these,  although  having  special  invocations,  are  best  known 
by  numbers  which  begin  on  the  right  of  the  west  door. 
The  exterior  is  heavy  and  plain,  but  redeemed  to  some  ex- 
tent and  dignified  by  the  noble  tower  which  rises  above  the 
western  entrance.  Begun  on  the  26th  of  May,  1461,  when 
the  first  stone  was  laid  by  Philippe  Courould,  Abbot  of  St. 
Pierre,  this  tower  was  completed  in  1 534,  from  the  designs 
of  Jean  Stassins.  In  1533,  on  the  yth  of  August,  the  nave 
and  transept  were  begun  to  be  rebuilt  on  the  older  founda- 
tion ;  they  were  unfinished  in  1550,  when  Charles  V.  gave 
15,000  crowns  of  Italy,  "  each  of  the  value  of  thirty  sous," 
towards  its  completion. 

The   platform   which    now   terminates   the  tower  is  two 
hundred   and   sixty-eight    feet    from   the  ground  ;  from   its 


ST.  BAVON,  GHENT  143 

summit  may  be  seen  Brussels,  Antwerp,  Mechlin,  Bruges, 
and  Vlissingen  ;  there  was  originally  a  fine  wooden  spire,  de- 
stroyed by  lightning  in  1603.  As  it  exists,  this  tower  is 
divided  into  three  stages  pierced  by  four  tiers  of  lancets, 
with  moulded  archivolts  and  deeply  recessed,  with  crockets 
and  a  finial  to  each ;  the  upper  stage  is  octagonal,  having 
four  detached  buttresses,  or  counterforts,  connected  to  the 
tower  by  flying  buttresses.  The  west  door  is  very  deeply 
recessed,  not  a  common  thing  in  Belgium,  and  has  rather 
clumsy  mouldings  about  it.  There  is  no  parapet  to  the 
roof  of  this  church,  except  under  the  gables  of  this  transept, 
which  are  flanked  by  two  long  and  slender  octagonal  turrets. 
Over  the  west  door  is  a  sort  of  minstrels'  gallery — so  we 
should  call  it  in  England  ;  this  has  a  parapet  of  panelled 
quatrefoils.  Nearly  the  whole  of  this  structure  is  enclosed 
by  houses  or  lanes  so  narrow  that  it  is  impossible  to  obtain 
a  good  view  of  the  exterior  for  the  camera.  For  this  rea- 
son it  will  be  best  to  turn  to  the  interior  in  order  to  gain  an 
idea  of  the  celebrated  church. 

Although  late,  this  interior  is  a  very  noble  one ;  the  nave 
is  wide,  so  is  the  transept  (1534-54),  which  is  aisleless. 
The  choir  (begun  in  1274)  is  very  large,  and  completely 
occupies  the  space  from  the  crossing  to  the  apse,  and  is 
raised  much  higher  than  the  nave  floor ;  this  grand  feature, 
which  appears  in  several  English  cathedrals,  is  induced  by 
the  existence  of  an  enormous  crypt  remaining  at  the  east 
end,  and  part  of  the  ancient  church.  The  columns  of  the 
nave  arcade  (^c,  1533)  are  clustered;  the  triple  vaulting- 
shafts  descend  from  the  roof  to  the  bases  of  the  piers  in 
the  nave ;  the  crossing,  on  account  of  its  breadth  and 
height,  is  singularly  effective ;  the  triforium,  or  rather  gal- 
lery of  the  nave  and  transept,  is  hidden  by  a  long  row  of 


144  ST.  BAVON,   GHENT 

panels  of  arms  of  knights  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  painted 
on  a  black  ground  ;  the  triforium  of  the  choir,  which  is 
very  large  and  fine,  consists  of  pointed  arches  enclosing 
coupled  openings  with  trefoil  heads ;  the  clerestory,  which 
contains  none  but  modern  stained  glass,  is  very  handsome  j 
that  of  the  choir  (c.  1320)  is  expansive  and  noble.  The  ends 
of  the  transept  are  pierced  by  two  enormous  Flamboyant 
windows,  which  display  armorials  in  stained  glass  of  the 
Sixteenth  Century  j  in  the  treasury  of  this  Cathedral  are 
drawings  of  the  stained  glass  which  formerly  filled  the  clere- 
story. The  choir-screen  is  one  of  those  abominable  shams 
of  the  last  century  which  deform  so  many  noble  Gothic 
interiors  in  Belgium  j  of  pseudo-c\ass\c  form,  it  is  painted  in 
black  and  white  on  wood  to  imitate  marbles,  and  has  gigan- 
tic pictures  in  camaieu  in  mockery  of  sculpture.  The  stalls 
of  the  choir  are  in  the  worst  rococo  manner;  on  the  wall 
above  them  appear  more  camaieu  pictures  (1774).  The 
pulpit  in  the  nave  is  an  exaggerated  example  of  what  is 
vulgarly  called  "  the  thunder  and  lightning  style  "  ;  it  cost 
no  fewer  than  33,000  francs  (1745)  and  effectually  mars 
the  beauty  of  the  surrounding  architecture. 

This  church  is  remarkable  for  its  enormous  quantity  of 
bad  furniture ;  e.  ^.,  at  the  north  end  of  the  transept  is  a 
font  in  which  Charles  V.  was  baptized,  a  bowl  of  granite 
enclosed  in  brass  and  sustained  by  angels.  Above  this  ap- 
pears a  sort  of  transparency  representing  a  dove  hovering 
over  the  bowl;  this  trick  which  is  quite  worthy  of  Vaux- 
hall  Gardens,  and  painfully  startling  in  a  Gothic  cathedral, 
is  not  uncommon  in  Belgium,  as  a  similar  toy  in  the 
church  of  St.  Ouentin  at  Tournay  testifies;  it  is  produced 
by  making  a  hole  in  the  wall  behind  the  font  to  receive  the 
transparency.     The  high  altar  is  an  enormous  gewgaw,  of 


ST.  BAVON,  GHENT  I45 

which  the  statues  of  SS.  Bavon,  Livinus  and  Amandus  alone 
cost  about  100,000  francs,  or  rather  more  than  the  tower 
of  the  Cathedral.  It  is  composed  of  huge  gilt  rays,  marble 
(pancake)  clouds,  a  broken  entablature,  and  what  not,  con- 
trasting painfully  with  the  beautiful  arcade  of  the  aisle  and 
chevet.  In  front  of  the  altar  are  four  tall  copper  candle- 
sticks, bearing  the  arms  of  England  in  relief,  brought  from 
Whitehall  after  the  execution  of  Charles  I.;  they  were 
purchased  (1669)  for  this  Cathedral  by  Bishop  Trieste, 
whose  monument  stands  near  them  at  the  side  of  the  altar. 
It  is  the  work  of  Jerome  Du  Quesnoy,  sculptor  of  the  fa- 
mous Mannekinpis  at  Brussels.  The  guide-books  are,  of 
course,  enraptured  by  this  statue, — "  It  represents  Bishop 
Trieste  contemplating  the  cross  of  the  Saviour,"  say  they, 
which  it  certainly  does  not,  for  the  Bishop  as  he  is  placed 
could  not  see  the  cross,  which  a  heavy  Ajnorino  holds  up  at 
his  feet.  There  is  a  certain  kind  of  technical  skill  shown 
in  the  carving  of  this  and  its  companion  tomb,  especially 
that  of  Bishop  Maes,  by  Pauwells,  which  satisfies  all  who 
do  not  look  for  genuine  expressiveness  and  fidelity.  With 
the  exception  of  the  figure  of  Bishop  Maes  nothing  can  be 
more  corrupt  in  style  than  these  works ;  they  are  as  low  in 
that  respect  as  Bernini's  carvings,  but  without  that  bravura 
which  is  at  least  picturesque  and  eff'ective,  if  not  sculptur- 
esque and  honestly  pathetic.  The  brass  gates  of  the  altar 
are  very  good  of  their  kind,  the  work  of  W.  De  Vos  {c. 
1700). 

In  the  chapels  of  St.  Bavon  there  is  a  multitude  of  pic- 
tures ;  of  these  few  call  for  notice  here.  Among  others 
is  the  Decollation  of  St.  'John  by  G.  De  Crayer,  in  the 
First  Chapel.  In  the  Sixth  Chapel,  as  we  ascend  to  the 
upper  part  of  the  church  is  Christ  with  the  Doctors.^  by  F. 


146  ST.   BAVON,  GHENT 

Pourbus,  containing,  with  many  others  of  the  same  period, 
powerful  portraits  of  Charles  V.,  Philip  II.,  and  the  painter. 
In  the  Fourteenth  Chapel  is  one  of  the  masterpieces  of 
Rubens  :  it  represents  St.  Bavon  received  into  the  convent 
which  St.  Amandus  of  Maestricht  founded  here.  It  is  a 
masterpiece  of  art  in  art,  wonderfully  vigorous  and  exuber- 
antly splendid  in  painting,  a  triumph  of  robust  execution, 
but  might  as  well  be  styled  an  incident  in  the  life  of  Theo- 
dosius  as  in  that  of  St.  Bavon.  It  was  formerly  the  altar- 
piece  of  the  Cathedral.  The  Eleventh  Chapel  is  styled  the 
Chapelle  de  /'  Agneau^  on  account  of  its  containing  the  fa- 
mous pictures  by  Hubert  and  John  Van  Eyck  representing 
the  Adoration  of  the  Lamb  as  described  in  Revelation  chap- 
ter vii.  verse  9  ;  and  in  the  minor  compositions  surround- 
ing this,  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  life,  redemption  and 
punishment  of  men.  The  central  picture,  which  was  be- 
gun by  Hubert  Van  Eyck,  is  remarkable  for  its  character- 
ization, vigour  and  depth  of  colouring,  and  the  variety  of 
the  expressions ;  it  is  one  of  the  most  perfect  examples  of 
the  early  Flemish  school  in  the  hands  of  the  Van  Eycks, 
1420—32.  The  chapel  containing  it  was  appropriated  to, 
if  not  erected  by,  Jodocus  Vydts,  Lord  of  Pamelle,  his  wife, 
Isabella  Borluut,  and  family  as  a  chantry  and  tomb-house 
for  themselves ;  the  pictures  are  placed  on  the  east  side 
above  the  altar.  The  whole  now  comprises  twelve  parts, 
which  may  be  considered  as  divided  into  two  lines — the  up- 
per one  of  seven  and  the  lower  of  five  pictures.  The 
most  important  element  is  the  central  picture  of  the  lower 
row,  which,  although  begun  by  Hubert,  was  finished  by 
John  Van  Eyck;  it  has  given  a  title  to  the  whole  compo- 
sition and  is  named  above.  This  shows  the  wounded 
Lamb  standing    upon  an    altar,  His  blood   pouring   into  a 


ST.   BAVON,  GHENT  147 

chalice,  while  at  the  sides  are  kneeling  angels,  singing  or 
rapt  in  adoration ;  some  bear  the  emblems  of  the  sacrifice 
— the  spear,  nails  and  sponge — others  hold  the  cross  and 
the  pillar;  two  angels  kneel  in  front  tossing  censers. 

The  crypt,  which  extends  under  the  whole  choir  of  this 
church,  is  the  most  ancient  part  of  the  edifice  and  one  of 
the  oldest  and  largest  in  Belgium.  It  was  constructed  by 
St.  Transmarus,  of  Noyon,  in  941,  and  reconstructed  some 
time  in  the  Thirteenth  Century  and  retains,  for  the  most 
part,  its  original  form.  It  is  divided  by  twelve  massive  piers 
of  various  dates,  some  of  them  earlier  and  others  coeval  with 
the  chancel  above.  The  vaulting  is  rather  flat,  and  covers 
no  fewer  than  fifteen  chapels.  Several  of  these  are  of  great 
size,  and  still  used.  There  are  some  good  incised  slabs 
ranging  from  the  Fourteenth  to  the  Sixteenth  Century.  In 
the  treasury  and  sacristy  of  St.  Bavon  are  many  valuable 
works  of  ancient  art,  e.  g.^  a  beautiful  chandelier  of  iron 
painted  (Fifteenth  Century)  with  statuettes  of  saints  and  a 
pyramidal  roof  with  dormers,  etc.,  the  silver  shrine  of  St. 
Macarius  (Sixteenth  Century),  embroidered  vestments,  illu- 
minated books,  reliquaries  and  other  articles. 


BAYEUX  CATHEDRAL 

H.  H.  BISHOP 

A  REMARKABLE  and  rich  specimen  of  the  "  Nor- 
man "  style  of  architecture  is  the  nave  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Bayeux. 

It  is  only  the  lower  part  of  the  nave  that  is  of  the  Nor- 
man date  :  up  to  the  triforium  string.  And  in  front  of  each 
of  the  great  clustered  piers  stands  a  pair  of  shafts  (twin 
shafts  under  a  common  abacus)  and  above  them  the  many 
zigzags  and  mouldings  of  the  main  arcade.  The  spandrels 
are  covered  with  the  diapered  patterns,  varied  in  different 
bays,  which  give  a  richness  to  the  design  possessed  by  no 
other  Norman  work  of  the  kind. 

When  we  come  to  inquire  the  date  of  this  fine  Norman 
work  of  Bayeux,  the  records  of  history  tend  as  much  to 
raise  doubts  as  to  allay  them. 

It  is  impossible  to  imagine  William  the  Norman  as  a 
subject;  but  he  might  have  proved  a  better  one  than  his 
turbulent  half-brother,  Odo,  Bishop  of  Bayeux.  From 
1049  to  1098  he  held  the  See,  and  for  thirty-eight  years  of 
that  time  his  Cathedral  was  being  built  and  he  lived  to  see 
it  completed.  The  consecration  took  place  in  1077  ;  but, 
though  consecrated  in  1077,  Bayeux  was  not  then  com- 
pleted, the  consecration  being  of  a  part  only,  as  was  almost 
universal,  and  as  was  natural  when  the  works  must  neces- 
sarily occupy  so  many  years.  Taking  then  Inkersley's 
dates  we  learn  that  the  Cathedral  was  burnt  in  an  attack 
upon  the  city  by   Henry  I.,  in   1106,  restored  by  him  and 


BAYEUX  CATHEDRAL  149 

burnt  again  during  an  incursion  by  Henry  II.  in  1159. 
After  this  damage  the  repairs  are  said  to  have  been  made  by 
Philip  Bishop  from  1142  to  1164. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  it  may  be  extremely  difficult  to 
decide  to  which  of  these  many  buildings  and  rebuildings 
these  noble  piers  and  arcades  of  the  nave  of  Bayeux  really 
belong.  At  Bayeux  the  only  "  Norman  "  work  remaining 
visible  consists  of  the  western  towers  and  these  finely 
clustered  piers,  rich  arches  and  diapered  spandrels  of  the 
nave.  The  piers  have  a  girth  of  twenty-four  feet  seven 
inches,  nearly  the  same  as  those  of  Ely. 

I  was  quite  prepared  to  find  this  Norman  work  fine  and 
noble,  but  scarcely  prepared  for  so  noble  and  beautiful  a 
church  altogether.  Of  course  it  is  all  painfully  new,  for  it 
has  been  "  restored."  But  we  have  to  put  up  with  that. 
In  France  we  must  now  expect  to  find  the  ancient  monu- 
ments of  her  history  either  in  a  state  of  utter  desecration 
and  ruin,  or  spick  and  span,  with  every  venerable  stain  of 
the  past  centuries  carefully  scoured  away.  But  not  even 
such  a  "  restoration  "  as  this  can  make  us  insensible  of  the 
beauty  of  the  Cathedral  of  Bayeux. 

It  is  about  the  same  size  as  Beverley  Minster.  Its 
Norman  west  towers  have  later  buttresses  and  spires,  plain, 
but  of  admirable  outline  and  design.  Grouping  with  them 
is  the  central  tower,  square  below,  of  our  Decorated  style, 
then  an  octagonal  story  Flamboyant  with  a  dome  and 
fieche  which  has,  I  suppose,  taken  the  place  of  a  classical 
one,  translating  it  into  Flamboyant  form.  The  extreme 
points  of  the  three  towers  seem  of  equal  height ;  and 
Bourasse  gives  the  central  jieche  as  2443^  feet  and  the 
western  spires  as  241^  feet.  But  the  dome  of  the  central 
tower  raises  its  mass  higher. 


150  BAYEUX  CATHEDRAL 

Externally  there  is  little  of  the  Norman  work  visible. 
Striking  is  the  effect  of  the  lofty  early  Gothic  clerestory  of 
the  nave  w^ith  its  quatrefoils  and  circles  in  the  spandrels  re- 
minding us  at  once  of  such  early  English  work  as  that  of 
the  presbytery  and  east  front  of  Ely.  The  great  apse  is 
circular  on  the  plan  and  has  very  fine  flanking  turrets 
which,  from  without,  appear  to  stand  wholly  within  the 
clerestory  wall,  but  from  within  no  sign  of  their  existence 
appears.  This  is  an  arrangement  of  which  this  part  of 
Normandy  shows  many  examples  and  is  evidently  a  method 
of  adding  weight  to  bring  the  resultant  pressures  more  into 
a  vertical  direction  at  the  important  point  of  the  spring  of 
the  curve  of  the  apse. 

The  west  front  has  five  arches  as  for  five  portals  as  at 
Bourges,  but  the  outer  one  on  each  side  is  not  pierced. 
The  central  doorway  is  later  and  poorer  than  the  others  and 
has  no  gable.  The  others  nave  deep  and  rich  series  of 
mouldings  and  small  circles,  etc.,  in  the  gables  which  sur- 
mount them.  But  the  great  windows  of  the  west  front  and 
transept  are  not  circles,  but  windows  of  the  ordinary  form 
as  we  have  them  in  England. 

Entering  the  Cathedral  of  Bayeux  by  the  west  door,  we 
find  a  descent  of  six  steps  to  the  pavement  of  the  nave. 
The  transepts  and  the  circumscribing  aisle  of  the  choir  are 
again  six  steps  below  the  nave,  all  of  which  arrangement 
brings  about  striking  results  in  the  perspective.  The  cen- 
tral tower  has  been  ably  shored  up  and  underbuilt,  but  (I 
suppose)  with  the  transformation  of  the  arches  of  the  nave 
nearest  to  it.  The  great  arches  of  the  crossing  seem  to  have 
a  slightly  "  horse-shoe  "  form.  The  lantern  is  not  open  as 
it  is  in  so  many  of  the  churches  of  Normandy,  but  vaulted 
at   the   same   level   as  the  nave  and  choir — seventy-six  feet 


BAYEUX  CATHEDRAL  15  ^ 

from  the  ground.     All  the  vaults  are  quadripartite  with  the 
usual  simple  beauty  of  that  form,  as  at  Salisbury. 

The  very  fine  ground  story  of  the  nave,  of  the  richest 
Norman  work,  supports  an  equally  remarkable  clerestory 
taller  than  itself.  Though  too  slender  to  be  quite  in  keep- 
ing with  the  massive  work  on  which  it  stands,  yet  with  its 
very  long  windows  and  clustering  vaulting  shafts,  it  is  a 
most  beautiful  design.  There  is  no  triforium,  but  merely 
a  trefoil  arcade  in  its  stead  j  and  this,  as  well  as  the  very 
lofty  proportions  of  the  clerestory,  all  seems  like  an  antici- 
pation of  a  later  age.  This  clerestory  and  the  triforium 
and  clerestory  of  the  choir  and  apse  are  of  the  "  plate- 
tracery  "  style  of  the  nave  of  Lincoln,  but  (I  think)  a  step 
further  in  development.  As  at  Coutances,  there  is  the 
beautiful  double  tracery  of  the  clerestory  windows  ;  per- 
haps almost  too  simple  to  be  called  "  tracery,"  but  doubled 
shafts  and  circles,  as  at  Stone,  Kent  j  like  a  precursor  of 
the  clerestory  of  the  "  Angel  Choir  "  at  Lincoln.  The 
choir  and  apse  (except  for  being  an  apse)  looks  as  "  Early 
English  "  as  Salisbury,  or  as  the  presbytery  of  Ely,  which, 
indeed,  it  more  nearly  resembles  in  having  its  noble  tri- 
forium unusually  lofty  for  its  age.  This  in  fact  seems 
more  lofty  than  the  clerestory  above  it,  and  is  in  most 
marked  contrast  with  the  small  substitute  for  it  which  runs 
beneath  the  lofty  clerestory  of  the  nave  ;  and  I  think  that 
It  is  a  fault  in  the  design.  Yet  I  am  almost  ashamed  to 
name  anything  as  a  fault  in  a  work  so  pure  and  lovely  as 
this  is. 

The  doubled  pillars  of  the  apse  do  not  stand  alone  as  at 
Coutances,  but  with  shafts  beside  them,  as  in  the  "  Round  " 
of  the  Temple  Church.  These  are  quite  detached.  But  it 
is  a  grief  to  see  the  doubled  pillars  fluted.     How  that  came 


152  BAYEUX  CATHEDRAL 

to  be  done  no  one  appears  to  know.  Probably  some  genius 
of  the  Seventeenth  Century  wished  to  give  a  civilized  aspect 
to  the  barbarous  effort  of  the  Thirteenth. 

I  do  not  know  what  authority  there  may  be  for  attribu- 
ting any  share  in  the  production  of  this  glorious  choir  and 
apse  to  the  English  Bishop,  Henry  de  Beaumont,  1205. 
With  greater  probability  it  may  be  assigned  to  Bishop  Guido, 
1 238-1 259.  Beneath  it  is  the  curious  crypt  of  the  Eleventh 
Century. 

We  take  leave  of  Bayeux  Cathedral  to  treasure  up  the 
remembrance  of  its  exceeding  beauty. 


ST.  STEPHEN'S,  VIENNA 
JULIUS  MEURER 

THE  beautiful  spire  of  St.  Stephen's  is  the  first  land- 
mark which  greets  the  traveller  from  afar  as  he 
draws  near  to  the  city  ;  and  the  venerable  Cathedral,  whose 
grey  stones  have  witnessed  the  changeful  history  of  five  cen- 
turies, is  generally  the  goal  towards  which  he  first  bends  his 
footsteps. 

As  early  as  the  Twelfth  Century  a  chapel  to  St.  Stephen 
stood  on  this  spot  and  was  transformed  into  a  church. 
Destroyed  during  a  disastrous  fire  in  1258,  it  was  rebuilt  on 
a  more  extensive  scale  in  the  Romanesque  style.  The  west 
front,  with  its  two  so-called  Heathen  Towers  {Heidentiirme), 
dates  from  this  period.  Gothic  Art,  however,  then  in  its 
infancy,  soon  began  to  assert  its  influence,  and  this  it  is 
what  renders  St.  Stephen's  Cathedral  of  such  importance 
to  the  history  of  art.  For  as  it  was  centuries  in  building,  it 
was,  when  finished,  a  living  history  in  itself  of  Gothic 
architecture,  illustrating  its  rise,  zenith  and  decline.  Duke 
Rudolph  IV.,  the  founder,  to  whom  Vienna  is  also  indebted 
for  its  University,  pushed  on  the  work  vigorously.  In  1359 
he  laid  the  foundations  of  the  nave  and  steeple.  The  latter 
was  completed  in  1433,  and  the  former  was  vaulted  thir- 
teen years  later.  In  1450  the  north  steeple  was  begun,  but 
when  twelve  years  afterwards  it  had  attained  the  height  of 
143  feet,  the  work  was  suspended.  The  present  unlovely 
superstructure  was  added  in  later  years.     The  south  steeple 


154  ST.   STEPHEN'S,  VIENNA 

is  445  feet  high,  being  only  slightly  lower  than  the  spires  of 
Cologne  and  Strassburg.  The  Cathedral  was  completed  in 
1506.  All  the  later  work  bore  rather  the  character  of  res- 
torations. Since  1850  the  gables  have  been  completed  and 
the  steeple  rebuilt  under  the  direction  of  the  two  great 
Gothic  authorities,  Leopold  Ernst  and  Friedrich  Schmidt. 
Among  the  earlier  architects  were  Wenzel  Helbling,  who 
built  the  steeple;  Peter  von  Pracatitz  about  1430 ;  Hans 
Puchsbaum,  his  successor;  and  lastly  Master  Anton  Pil- 
gram,  who  built  the  graceful  Singertor^  the  pulpit,  etc., 
about  1500. 

The  Cathedral  is  in  the  shape  of  a  cross,  which  is  formed 
by  the  triple  nave  and  choir  attached  thereto  and  the  tran- 
sept with  the  porches  at  either  end.  The  length  of  the  in- 
terior is  three  hundred  and  fifty-one  feet,  the  width  of  the 
centre  nave  thirty-four  and  a  half  feet,  and  of  the  side  naves 
twenty-eight  and  a  half  feet.  The  centre  nave,  which 
measures  eighty-eight  feet  to  the  archivolt,  is  slightly  higher 
than  the  lateral  naves.  Above  the  triple  nave  on  a  forest 
of  beams  rises  the  unusually  lofty,  almost  perpendicular, 
roof  with  its  glazed  tiles  of  many  colours — a  masterpiece  of 
the  carpenter's  art. 

The  main  entrance  to  the  Cathedral  is  on  the  west  side 
by  the  Giant  Gate,  the  original  design  of  which  is  Roman- 
esque,    The  ogives  were  added  later. 

The  two  circular  windows  of  the  west  front  with  their 
elegant  tracery  also  belong  to  the  best  Gothic  period.  The 
height  of  the  Heathen  Towers  is  208  feet. 

The  north  and  south  fronts  have  each  two  entrances,  the 
Bischofstor  (Bishop  Gate)  and  Adlertor  (Eagle  Gate),  and 
the  Singertor  and  Primtor.  The  Bischofstor  and  Singertor 
are  usually  closed,  but  the  porches  contain  graceful  work. 


ST.   STEPHEN'S,   VIENNA 


ST.   STEPHEN'S,  VIENNA  1 55 

The  Singertor  and  Pr'imtor  form  the  porches  of  the  two 
towers  and  are  almost  exclusively  In  use.  By  the  Singertor 
on  the  south  front  is  a  sarcophagus  on  which  rests  a  knight. 
Tradition  points  it  out  as  the  tomb  of  Otto  Neidhard  Fuchs, 
famed  for  his  jests  at  the  court  of  Duice  Otto  the  Merry. 
It  is  surmounted  by  an  elegant  stone  canopy. 

Among  the  numerous  other  exterior  sculptures  may  be 
mentioned  the  puipit  on  the  north  front,  from  which  St. 
John  Capistranus  preached  a  crusade  against  the  Turks, 
who  were  then  threatening  Hungary. 

The  interior  of  the  Cathedral  is  very  imposing.  Twelve 
slender  richly-moulded  columns  divide  the  middle  nave  from 
the  side  ones,  and,  ending  in  reticulated  work,  support  the 
three  arches.  This  arrangement  is  continued  in  the  three 
choirs  behind  the  body  of  the  Cathedral.  They  are 
divided  by  six  pillars,  the  artistically  carved  choir  seats,  the 
choir  and  oratories  being  built  in  between.  The  high  altar 
was  built  in  1647  ^"'^  ^^  of  black  marble.  The  painting, 
Martyrdom  of  St.  Stephen,  is  by  Anton  Bock.  The 
Rococo  of  this  and  the  other  altars  is  not  in  harmony  with 
the  architectural  style  of  the  Cathedral.  To  the  right  of 
the  high  altar,  in  the  Thekla  choir,  is  the  Sarcophagus  ot 
Kaiser  Frederick  IV.  It  is  of  red  Salzburg  marble,  and  is 
the  principal  work  of  art  in  St.  Stephen's.  Though  begun 
in  1467  by  Nicholas  Lerch  of  Leyden,  it  was  not  finished 
till  1513  by  the  Viennese  mason,  Martin  Dichter,  and  is 
said  to  have  cost  40,000  ducats. 

In  the  adjoining  south  side  nave  is  the  Memorial  of  the 
Deliverance  of  Vienna  in  1683.  It  was  unveiled  in  1893. 
This  fine  monument  is  by  Prof.  Hermann  Helmer.  The 
central  figure  is  that  of  the  valiant  Governor  Count  Riidiger 
Starhemberg,  acclaimed  by  the  citizens.     The  other  statues 


156  ST.  STEPHEN'S,  VIENNA 

are  those  of  men  who  distinguished  themselves  in  the 
defence  and  deliverance  of  the  city. 

The  women's  choir  to  the  left  of  the  high  altar  shows  the 
statues  of  Duke  Albrecht  III.  (1395)  and  his  wife ;  in  front 
of  the  altar  is  Cardinal  Archbishop  Rauscher,  a  distinguished 
statesman  and  savant,  who  died  in  1875.  Other  objects 
of  interest  in  the  interior  of  the  Cathedral  are  the  grand 
choir  in  the  porch  of  the  Giant  Tower,  with  a  powerful 
organ  of  thirty-two  registers,  and  the  pulpit  against  the  third 
pillar  of  the  north  side.  It  is  an  exceedingly  graceful  piece 
of  Gothic  work  by  Master  Pilgram,  vt'hose  statue  adorns 
the  foot. 

Of  the  chapels  in  the  porches  of  the  two  towers  and  on 
either  side  of  the  Giant  Gate  may  be  mentioned  :  the 
Catherine  Chapel  (under  the  steeple)  with  a  beautiful  font  of 
the  year  148 1 ;  the  Eligius  Chapel  always  bathed  in  mystic 
twilight ;  to  the  left  of  the  Giant  Gate  the  Cross,  or  Eugene 
Chapel,  with  the  statue  of  the  greatest  Austrian  military 
commander,  Prince  Eugene  of  Savoy.  From  the  porch  of 
the  unfinished  north  tower  one  gains  access  to  the  Barbara 
Chapel.  This  contains  a  Gothic  altar  by  Ferstel  (1854)  in 
memory  of  the  attempt  on  the  life  of  the  Emperor  Francis 
Joseph.  The  altar  screen  is  by  Blaas  and  the  statues  by 
Gasser.  The  beautiful  stained  windows  in  the  side  choirs, 
executed  by  Geyling  from  designs  of  distinguished  artists, 
also  deserve  attention. 

The  treasury  of  the  church  is  rich  In  antique  vestments, 
finely-carved  reliquaries  and  other  valuable  objects. 

The  view  from  the  top  of  the  steeple  is  magnificent, 
reaching  far  away  beyond  the  sea  of  houses  to  the  spurs  of 
the  Alps,  the  Wilnerwald,  the  Marchfeld  and  the  plain  of 
Hungary. 


EVREUX  CATHEDRAL 

BENJAMIN  WINKLES 

EVREUX  cannot  be  called  a  handsome  city.  Its  sit- 
uation is  pleasant  enough ;  it  is  surrounded  by  gar- 
dens and  orchards  in  a  fertile  valley,  enclosed  to  the  north 
and  south  by  ranges  of  hills.  On  approaching  the  city  the 
Cathedral  is  certainly  a  very  imposing  object,  and  the  more 
so  because  at  a  little  distance  the  great  blemish,  the  detail  of 
the  u^estern  fi^ade,  is  not  discernible. 

Let  the  reader  now  suppose  himself  to  have  arrived  in 
Evreux,  and  to  have  placed  himself  opposite  the  west  front 
of  the  Cathedral. 

The  plan  of  this  facade  is  the  usual  one  of  a  gable  flanked 
by  two  towers,  a  door  of  entrance  in  the  middle  with  a  large 
window  over  it ;  but  it  is  singular  in  having  no  lateral 
doors  of  entrance  into  the  side  aisles  on  each  side  the  mid- 
dle or  great  door  of  entrance  into  the  nave. 

The  towers  are  of  unequal  dimensions  ;  that  to  the  north, 
called  the  bell-tower,  being  much  larger  than  the  other,  and 
the  walls  much  thicker.  The  foundation  of  this  tower  is 
said  to  have  been  laid  in  the  year  1392,  and  to  have  been 
finished  in  the  year  141 7,  when  the  English  were  masters 
of  the  city.  The  dome  by  which  it  is  now  terminated  was 
added  when  the  other  tower  was  built  by  Bishop  Gabriel  le 
Veneur,  about  the  middle  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.  That 
this  is  the  true  state  of  the  case  appears  probable  both  from 
the    letter   of    M.   Delanoe,  and    the    work    called    Gallia 


158  EVREUX  CATHEDRAL 

Christiana :  the  former  declaring  that  the  bishop  built  only 
one  of  the  towers ;  the  latter  that  he  gave  the  great  bell, 
and  adorned  the  whole  west  front.  No  doubt,  therefore, 
when  he  built  the  southern  tower,  he  altered  the  face  of  the 
northern,  so  as  to  make  it  correspond  as  much  as  possible 
with  the  other,  and  with  the  portal  and  gable  between  them 
which  he  took  care  to  disfigure  (as  we  should  now  say)  at 
the  same  time.  Mr.  Whewell's  description  of  this  west 
front  accords  very  well  with  this  account  of  its  first  con- 
struction and  subsequent  alteration.  He  says  it  is  to  be 
considered  as  a  Gothic  conception  expressed  in  classical 
phrases. 

Unpleasing  as  this  facade  is  in  itself,  it  becomes  more  so 
when  viewed  in  connection  with  the  pure  Gothic  of  the 
rest  of  the  edifice,  and  especially  with  the  north  side  of  it. 
On  turning  round  the  corner  of  the  great  tower,  that  north 
side,  as  far  as  the  transept,  comes  immediately  in  sight, 
crowned  with  the  central  tower,  surmounted  by  perhaps  the 
most  delicate,  light,  and  elegant  spires  of  the  size  that  ever 
were  constructed.  The  central  tower  is  plain  and  octangu- 
lar ;  the  four  faces  of  it,  opposite  the  four  points  of  the 
compass,  are  occupied  with  large  pointed  windows  of  four 
lights  each,  with  good  but  simple  tracery  in  the  heads  of 
each.  The  other  four  sides  are  plain  solid  walls,  up  the  mid- 
dle of  each  of  which  runs  a  plain,  half-hexagonal  turret,  with 
loop  holes  to  give  light  to  the  staircases  constructed  within 
it.  The  parapet  of  these  plain  sides  of  the  octagon  as  well 
as  that  of  the  others  is  of  good  flowing  tracery,  pierced 
through.  The  turrets  are  terminated  by  pinnacles  and 
tracery,  and  rise  above  the  parapet  of  the  tower;  or  at  the 
eight  angles  of  which  rise  as  many  pinnacles,  but  of  larger 
dimensions  than  those  on  the  turrets.     The  spire,  which  is 


EVREUX  CATHEDRAL 


EVREUX  CATHEDRAL  159 

also  octangular,  rises  from  within  the  tower,  and  around 
the  base  of  it  are  pinnacles,  which  are  attached  to  the  spire 
by  flying  buttresses ;  it  has  pointed  windows  to  the  top  in 
each  side,  one  above  another  with  bands  of  tracery  between 
each.  Those  in  the  lowest  story  being  much  higher,  and 
of  course  much  wider  than  those  above  them  ;  these  last- 
mentioned  windows  have  straight  and  very  acute  angled 
canopies. 

All  that  portion  of  the  north  side  of  the  Cathedral  be- 
tween the  northern  tower  and  the  transept  is  plain,  as  to 
the  clerestory  and  buttresses  ;  the  flying  buttresses,  of  which 
there  are  two  to  every  upright  buttress,  one  above  the  other, 
being  neither  pierced  nor  panelled,  give  to  this  portion  of  the 
building  a  dull  and  heavy  appearance.  The  side  chapels, 
however,  below  are  of  a  more  ornamented  description ;  as 
is  also  the  library  which  projects  on  this  side  of  the  Cathe- 
dral beyond  the  outer  walls  of  the  chapels  to  the  level  of  the 
north  front  of  the  transept.  Each  chapel  has  a  pointed 
window  of  five  lights,  with  rather  rich  tracery  in  their 
heads,  and  an  acute  angled  canopy  over  each,  rising  far 
above  the  parapet :  between  each  window  is  a  delicate  but- 
tress ending  in  a  crocketed  pinnacle  rising  equally  above  the 
parapet,  which  is  filled  with  good  open  tracery.  The  li- 
brary, which  is  now  used  as  a  vestry  (the  books  having  been 
dispersed  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution),  has  one 
pointed  window  to  the  west,  and  two  to  the  north  ;  the 
former,  of  three  lights,  the  latter,  of  four  lights  each,  with 
simple  tracery  in  the  heads  of  them :  they  have  no  cano- 
pies, but  a  pierced  parapet  runs  along  the  top  of  the  building  ; 
and  at  the  outer  angle  of  the  building  and  between  the  win- 
dows are  small  buttresses  terminated  by  crocketed  pinnacles. 
The  west  wall   of  the   transept  on   this  side  has  two  very 


l6o  EVREUX  CATHEDRAL 

large  and  rich  Pointed  windows  of  six  lights  each,  with  a 
buttress  and  pinnacle  between  them,  and  a  pierced  parapet 
of  very  good  design  above  them. 

But  the  jewel  of  Evreux  Cathedral  is  the  north  front  of 
the  transept.  For  this  portion  of  the  edifice  has  been 
long  and  justly  celebrated;  and  for  this  portion  alone  a 
journey  to  Evreux  will  not  be  thought  too  much  to  under- 
take, from  almost  any  distance,  by  the  lover  of  Gothic  ar- 
chitecture. It  has  been  ever  esteemed  as  a  perfect  example 
of  the  Flamboyant  style.  The  plan  of  it  is  the  usual  one, 
and  in  design  is  very  similar  to  the  south  front  of  the  tran- 
sept of  Beauvais  Cathedral ;  the  difference  between  them  is 
however  entirely  and  very  greatly  in  favour  of  Evreux. 
The  flanking  towers  are  very  rich,  without  exceeding  in 
richness  the  intervening  space,  and  they  are  finished  with 
very  graceful  clusters  of  canopies  and  pinnacles.  The 
south  front  of  the  transept  of  Beauvais  astonishes  and  daz- 
zles ;  the  north  front  of  the  transept  of  Evreux  Cathedral 
satisfies  and  delights  the  beholder.  The  epithets  proper  to 
the  former  are  gorgeous  and  superb,  to  the  latter  graceful 
and  elegant.  The  architect  of  Beauvais  seems  to  have 
made  an  experiment  of  how  much  ornament  could  be 
crowded  into  a  given  space,  while  the  architect  of  Evreux, 
having  thoroughly  studied  the  subject,  and  selected  the 
choicest  detail  from  the  almost  endless  variety  in  the  store- 
house of  Gothic  architecture,  has  so  combined  and  applied 
it,  as  to  produce  in  the  north  front  of  this  transept  the  most 
perfect  masterpiece  of  the  style  and  age  in  which  it  was 
erected. 

The  east  side  of  the  transept  is  similar  to  the  west  side. 
We  come  now  to  the  choir  and  its  surrounding  chapels. 
The   windows   both   of  the   clerestory  and  the  side  chapels 


EVREUX  CATHEDRAL  l6l 

are  very  similar  to  those  of  the  nave,  but  the  buttresses  are 
lighter,  and  the  flying  buttresses  are  ornamented  w^ith  open 
tracery.  The  choir  is  so  much  broader  than  the  nave  and 
central  tower,  that  in  order  to  make  the  walls  of  the  clere- 
story meet  the  corners  of  the  tower,  they  are  built  at  an 
angle  and  the  choir  contracted  in  the  last  compartment 
westward.     This  has  not  a  good  effect  externally. 

There  are  five  chapels  in  the  apse  ;  the  middle  one  was 
at  a  subsequent  period  lengthened  out  into  the  present 
Chapel  of  the  Virgin  ;  they  all  end  in  half  hexagons,  with 
pointed  windows  in  each  side  and  buttresses  between  ;  the 
Virgin  Chapel  has  besides  the  three  eastern  windows,  six 
others,  three  on  the  north,  and  three  on  the  south  side. 

The  south  side  of  the  Cathedral  differs  somewhat  from 
the  north  side,  especially  as  regards  the  end  of  the  tran- 
sept, which  wants  the  flanking  towers,  and  has  nothing  in 
its  design  or  detail  worthy  of  particular  attention.  Some 
remains  of  the  cloisters  are  still  to  be  seen  on  this  side  of 
the  building;  and  other  adjuncts  which  disfigure  rather  than 
adorn  it.  The  south  side,  however,  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Evreux,  being  enclosed  within  garden  walls  and  private 
premises,  is  seldom  seen  by  the  traveller  (except  the  upper 
part  of  it),  which  under  the  circumstances  is  not  to  be  at  all 
regretted. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  very  first  rate  stained  glass  in 
this  Cathedral,  particularly  in  the  transept,  choir  and  Vir- 
gin Chapel;  that  in  the  windows  of  the  Chapel  is  reckoned 
to  exceed  in  beauty  and  richness  any  other  in  France. 


ROCHESTER  CATHEDRAL 

W.  J.   LOFTIE 

ONE  of  the  oldest  cities  in  England,  and  one  also 
which  is  marked  by  some  of  the  most  ancient  and 
interesting  relics  of  the  past,  Rochester  lies  on  the  high 
road  between  London  and  Canterbury,  commanding  the 
bridge  which  must  have  first  been  made  here  by  the  Ro- 
mans over  the  lower  Medway.  They  called  the  town 
Durobrivum.  The  Normans,  seeing  the  importance  of  the 
place,  built  the  castle,  which,  after  centuries  of  neglect,  has 
lately  become  the  property  of  the  municipality,  and,  with 
its  grounds  laid  out  as  a  garden,  is  an  honour  and  an  orna- 
ment to  the  city.  It  is  situated  on  an  angle  formed  by  the 
river,  which  here  coming  from  the  south  runs  northward 
until  it  has  passed  the  bridge,  and  then  turns  to  the  east- 
ward. Rochester  is  mentioned  by  Beda,  who  says  one 
RofFe  first  built  here,  but  the  addition  of  "  Chester  "  to  his 
name  "  Hroffeceaster  "  is  enough  to  show  that  the  site  was 
already  occupied  and  fortified  by  the  Romans. 

Ethelbert,  King  of  Kent,  probably  built  the  city  walls, 
which  may  still  be  traced  in  places,  between  Rochester  and 
Chatham.  He  may  have  used  Roman  foundations.  He 
certainly  founded  the  church  of  St.  Andrew,  for  secular 
canons,  and  in  604  a  bishop  was  appointed.  He  was  named 
Justus,  and  was  one  of  the  companions  of  Augustine. 
Justus  became  third  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  in  624, 
and  was  succeeded  at   Rochester  by  Romanus,  and  he  by 


ROCHESTER  CATHEDRAL  163 

Paulinus.  Then  came  Ithamar,  the  first  English  Bishop. 
Siward,  Bishop  at  the  Conquest,  survived  that  event  ten 
years.  Gundulf,  a  monk  of  Bee  in  Normandy,  was  ap- 
pointed in  1076,  and  to  him  we  must  attribute  a  part  at 
least  of  both  Cathedral  and  Castle  as  we  now  see  them. 
The  Cathedral  does  not  stand,  as  at  Durham,  beside  the 
Castle,  looking  down  over  the  river  and  the  valley,  but  in 
a  hollow  to  the  eastward.  It  is  best  approached  from  the 
High  Street,  where  an  old  archway,  the  College  Gate, 
marks  the  entrance  to  the  Precincts,  or  Green  Church 
Haw,  as  the  open  space  is  locally  called.  Other  gates  are 
nearer  the  church,  and  there  are  many  relics  of  antiquity  to 
be  observed  in  a  walk  among  the  canons'  houses,  past  the 
Deanery,  and  up  Boley  Hill,  where  a  fine  view  is  obtained. 
St.  Nicholas's  Church  stands  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Cathedral,  and  part  of  it  dates  back  to  the  Fifteenth 
Century;  but  the  body  of  the  church  was  built  in  1624, 
and  will  remind  the  visitor  of  St.  Katharine  Cree,  in 
London,  as  an  example  of  Seventeenth  Century  Gothic. 
Bishop  Gundulf  is  said  to  have  built  Rochester  Castle 
and  Cathedral  as  well  as  the  Tower  of  London.  But  very 
little  work  that  can  positively  be  assigned  to  him  now  re- 
mains in  the  Cathedral.  We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  St.  John 
Hope,  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  for  a  careful  examina- 
tion of  the  existing  buildings ;  and  his  paper  has  been  pub- 
lished in  the  Archceologia  (XLIX.  p.  323).  An  authority 
on  the  rest  of  the  church  is  one  of  the  minor  canons,  Mr. 
Livett.  The  secular  canons,  four  in  number,  had  so 
wasted  or  mismanaged  their  estates,  that  before  Gundulf's 
appointment,  the  church  and  services  were  equally  neg- 
lected. Gundulf  recovered  the  alienated  property,  estab- 
lished a  priory  of  twenty  monks,  pulled  down  the  old  and 


164  ROCHESTER  CATHEDRAL 

ruinous  church,  and  with  much  pecuniary  assistance  from 
Archbishop  Lanfranc  rebuilt  it  on  a  larger  scale.  The 
plan  was  peculiar,  being  strictly  English,  not  Norman. 
There  was  a  nave;  aisleless  transepts  120  feet  long  but 
only  fourteen  feet  wide  ;  and  an  eastern  arm  of  six  bays 
with  aisles,  four  bays  being  raised  on  a  crypt.  The  east 
end  was  square,  and  a  small  rectangular  chapel  projected 
from  it.  A  campanile  was  on  the  north  side,  detached  in 
the  angle  between  the  choir  and  north  transept.  A  tower 
on  the  north  side  must  have  been  built  before  the  church, 
for  what  purpose  is  unknown.  A  portion  of  it  is  still 
standing.  Part  of  the  crypt  also  dates  from  Gundulf's 
time.  The  second  Norman  church  was  begun  by  Bishop 
Ernulf  about  11 20,  and  carried  on  by  his  successor  until 
1 1 30,  when  it  was  consecrated.  The  present  nave  is  of 
this  period.  A  new  choir  was  finished,  in  the  then  New 
Pointed  Style,  in  1227,  the  north  transept  about  1255,  and 
the  south  transept  a  little  later.  The  central  tower  was 
originally  built  by  Bishop  Haymo  de  Hythe  (1319-1352), 
but  was  rebuilt  by  Cottingham  as  a  "restoration,"  in  1826. 
It  goes  far  to  mar  every  external  view  of  the  church. 

The  interior  of  the  nave  is  Norman,  except  the  two 
most  eastern  bays  at  each  side,  which  are  Pointed.  The 
triforium  is  also  Norman,  and  the  Norman  windows  of  the 
clerestory  have  Perpendicular  tracery. 

"The  north  transept,"  says  Mr.  Livett  {Brief  Notes  on 
Rochester  Cathedral  Church)^  "  is  a  good  example  of  late 
Early  English.  In  the  recess  on  the  east  side  may  be 
seen  the  only  instance  in  the  Cathedral  of  the  typical 
foliated  cap  of  this  style."  The  Lady  Chapel  is  on  the 
south  side  of  the  nave.  The  west  window  was  renewed 
by   Cottingham.     It  was  filled   with  painted  glass  by   the 


ROCHESTER  CATHEDRAL  1 65 

Royal  Engineers  in  1884.  The  curious  Norman  recesses 
under  it  have  been  filled  with  mosaic  memorials  in  hope- 
lessly discordant  colours.  The  roof  is  of  wood.  The 
entire  nave  is  seated,  and  a  pulpit  is  on  the  north  side. 
The  screen  used  to  be  of  plain  masonry,  with  a  large 
pointed  doorway  into  the  choir.  The  organ  was  over  it, 
but  was  divided  so  as  to  allow  of  a  view  along  the  vault- 
ing of  the  choir.  The  choir  is  approached  by  a  flight  of 
stone  steps.  In  the  south  choir  aisle,  or  Chapel  of 
St.  Edmund,  is  a  similar  flight  admitting  to  the  south  choir 
transept.  By  its  side  is  another  flight  leading  downwards 
to  the  crypt,  which  should  be  visited.  The  two  western 
bays  are  of  Bishop  Gundulf's  time,  the  rest  is  Early 
English.  "The  castcm  arm  is  diviJcd  ii;to  three  alleys, 
running  east  and  west  of  five  severies." 

When  we  ascend  to  the  choir  level  we  are  in  the  south 
choir  transept.  Opposite  the  door  by  which  we  enter  is  a 
beautifully  carved  archway,  leading  into  what  is  now,  we 
believe,  a  kind  of  musical  library  for  the  use  of  organists 
and  choristers.  This  doorway  has  been  variously  described 
as  "  Decorated  "  and  as  "  Perpendicular."  Its  exact  date  is 
not  known  for  certain,  but  from  an  artistic  point  of  view,  it 
is  by  far  the  most  beautiful  and  interesting  object  in 
Rochester  Cathedral,  rivalling  in  this  respect  the  entrance  to 
the  Chapter-house  at  Southwell,  the  Lady  Chapel  at  Ely, 
and  the  tomb  of  Edward  II.  at  Gloucester.  On  the  south 
side  there  is  a  graceful  female  figure,  blindfolded,  and  bear- 
ing a  cross  and  banner  in  her  left  hand  and  two  tables  or 
tablets  in  her  right.  She  stands  on  a  bracket,  which  is  sup- 
ported by  a  somewhat  grotesque  head  with  a  downcast  ex- 
pression. On  the  other  side  is  a  bishop,  of  rather  truculent 
aspect,  bearing  a  cross  and  banner  in  his  right  hand,  and  a 


l66  ROCHESTER  CATHEDRAL 

church  model  in  his  left.  He  is  clothed  in  pontificals  and 
has  a  mitre  on  his  head.  He  rests  on  a  bracket  carved  with 
a  monk's  head,  wearing  a  cheerful  expression.  In  the  arch 
above  his  head  are  two  of  the  Evangelists,  and  over  the 
female  figure  two  more,  each  in  an  exquisite  canopied 
niche.  Above  them  are  four  small  angels,  two  on  each 
side,  and  at  the  apex  of  the  arch  is  a  nude,  childlike 
figure,  such  as  was  used  to  represent  the  soul  in  stained 
glass  and  illuminated  MSS.  The  large  figures  are  some- 
times explained  to  represent  Judaism  and  Christianity  ;  but 
perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  take  them  as  signifying  the 
Law  and  the  Gospel.  The  whole  composition  has  been 
cast  and  is  to  be  seen  in  museums  of  architecture,  as  at  th^ 
Crystal  Palace.  To  a  lover  of  beautiful  sculpture  it  will  re- 
pay the  trouble  of  a  pilgrimage  to  Rochester  to  see  the 
original. 

In  the  choir,  which  is  exquisitely  vaulted,  the  stalls  have 
no  canopies,  but  a  wall  shuts  out  the  side  aisles  as  far  as 
the  choir  transept.  East  of  that  point  is  a  pulpit,  with  the 
brass  eagle  between  and  a  reredos  near  the  east  wall. 
When  the  pulpit  was  removed  from  a  place  adjoining  the 
north  row  of  stalls,  a  curious  painting  representing  the 
Wheel  of  Fortune,  was  discovered  behind  it,  and  has  been 
preserved. 

In  the  north  choir  transept  was  the  shrine  of  St.  William 
of  Scotland.  This  personage  was  a  baker  at  Perth,  who 
undertook  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  and  had  got  as  far  as 
Rochester  in  1201  when,  outside  the  walls,  he  was  murdered 
by  his  servant.  He  was  canonized  in  1256,  and  his  tomb 
brought  some  gain  to  the  monks.  It  stands  on  the  north- 
east side,  and  near  it  a  slab  marked  with  crosses  shows 
where  the  reliquary  was.     There  are  many  bishops  buried 


ROCHESTER  CATHEDRAL  167 

in  the  eastern  limb  of  the  choir  and  in  the  north  transept, 
the  principal  memorial  being  the  modern  tomb  of  Bishop 
Walter  Morton,  died  1277.  It  is  prettily  arranged  with 
two  small  windows  behind  it.  Originally,  an  effigy  made  and 
enamelled  at  Limoges,  in  the  style  of  that  of  William  de 
Valence  in  Westminster  Abbey,  was  on  this  tomb,  but  it 
was  destroyed  at  the  Reformation.  Other  monuments  are 
to  Bishop  Shepey,  died  1361,  who  is  supposed  to  have  made 
the  doorway  in  the  southeast  transept;  to  Bishop  Lowe, 
died  1461  ;  Bishop  Laurence  and  Bishop  Glanville,  both  of 
the  Thirteenth  Century.  There  is  a  canopied  effigy  of 
Bishop  Inglethorp,  died  129 1,  and  near  it  on  the  south  side 
of  the  altar,  a  tomb  traditionally  assigned  to  Gundulf. 


MILAN  CATHEDRAL 

JOSEPH  BOLDORINI 

THE  Cathedral  of  Milan,  founded  by  a  special  vow  in 
1386  by  the  Duke  of  Milan,  Giovanni  Galeazzo 
Visconti,  is  composed  of  fine  white  marble  taken  from  the 
quarries  of  Mount  Gandoglia  near  Lago  Maggiore,  which 
besides  many  other  gifts  was  expressly  offered  as  a  present 
for  the  building  bv  the  generous  founder  himself.  The 
spot  where  it  is  raised  is  the  same  formerly  occupied  by 
the  ancient  Metropolitan  Church  of  the  city,  erected  in 
836  under  the  title  of  St.  Maria  Maggiore,  this  place  hav- 
ing been  chosen  in  order  that  this  new  magnificent  temple 
should  form  a  monument  unrivalled  in  its  kind,  and  one  of 
the  first  wonders  of  the  world  in  eternal  honour  and  memory 
of  our  Holy  Virgin. 

The  architecture  of  this  temple  is  all  Gothic  with  the 
exception  of  the  facade  which  was  begun  in  the  Greek  style 
by  Pellegrini,  and  continued  afterwards,  rather  slowly,  until 
in  1805,  by  a  decree  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  dated  8th 
June,  the  completion  of  the  whole  temple  was  ordered. 

Its  shape  is  that  of  a  Latin  cross,  and  comprises  five  naves 
corresponding  to  the  five  entrance  doors.  The  separation 
of  the  five  naves  is  eff^ected  by  fifty-two  large  and  fluted 
columns  or  pillars  of  marble  of  a  shape  almost  octagonal,  all 
alike,  with  the  exception  of  four,  which,  as  they  support  the 
great  cupola,  are  about  one-fifth  bigger  than  the  others.  The 
height  of  each  of  the  fifty-two  columns,  reckoning  the  base 


MILAN  CATHEDRAL  1 69 

and  the  capital,  is  about  twenty-four  and  their  diameter  about 
two  and  a  half  metres.  Besides  all  these  columns,  or  pillars, 
several  half  columns,  corresponding  to  the  entire  ones,  and 
which  serve  also  to  support  the  crossing,  Gothic  vaults 
jut  out  from  the  interior  walls,  which  form  the  circumfer- 
ence of  the  temple.  Well  worthy  of  attention  are  the  capitals 
of  the  pillars,  which  divide  the  main  nave  from  the  others, 
being  of  different  designs  and  adorned  with  eight  statues  and 
pointed  pediment  enriched  with  a  prodigious  quantity  of 
arabesque.  The  whole  work,  beyond  any  doubt  unique  in 
its  kind,  was  for  the  greater  part  executed  towards  the  end 
of  the  Fifteenth  Century  by  Filippino  of  Modena.  The 
interior  of  the  cupola  is  also  adorned  with  sixty  statues  and 
bas-reliefs,  four  of  which  represent  the  doctors  of  the 
Christian  Church. 

An  ample  and  fine  flight  of  stairs  of  red  granite  leading 
to  five  doors  in  the  Roman  style,  corresponding,  as  already 
observed,  to  the  five  naves,  affords  entrance  to  the  temple. 
Over  the  doors  are  five  large  windows  filled  up  with  stained 
and  figured  glass  painted  by  Giovanni  Bertini,  a  famous 
Milanese  artist.  Over  the  great  middle  window  is  the  fol- 
lowing short  inscription  in  gilt  bronze  letters  : 

Marie  Nascenti 

The  pedestals  of  the  pillars  are  adorned  with  fifty-two 
beautiful  bas-reliefs,  representing  partly  events  of  the  Holy 
Writ,  and  partly  subjects  alluding  to  the  mysteries  of  our 
religion.  Upwards  of  two  hundred  statues  decorate  this 
magnificent  facade  adorned  in  its  upper  part  with  twelve 
needles,  or  spires,  supporting  twelve  colossal  statues. 

On  entering  by  the  middle  door  the  visitor  will  see 
two  gigantic  columns  of  red  granite,  taken  from  a  quarry  at 


170  MILAN  CATHEDRAL 

Baveno  on  Lago  Maggiore,  almost  unparalleled  for  their 
colossal  size  and  dimensions.  Above  them  is  the  large  win- 
dow embellished  with  coloured  painted  glass  by  Bertini, 
representing  the  Virgin  Mary's  Assumption,  designed  by 
the  eminent  professor,  Luigi  Sabatelli. 

The  ornaments  of  the  five  doors  were  designed  by  Fabio 
Mangone.  The  pavement  composed  of  fine  varied  col- 
oured marbles  in  the  Arabic  style  is  now  entirely  finished. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the  surprising  vault  painted  en 
grisaille^  drawn  and  admirably  executed  in  part  by  Felice 
Alberti,  a  Milanese  artist,  who  in  the  year  1827  lost  his  life 
by  a  fatal  accident  in  the  bloom  of  his  age.  From  1828  to 
1831,  the  well-known  painter  Alessandro  Sanquirico  suc- 
ceeded him  in  the  direction  and  continuation  of  the  work ; 
and  in  1832  another  celebrated  artist,  Francesco  Gabetta, 
accomplished  the  task. 

The  various  marble  altars  were  designed  by  the  celebrated 
Pellegrini,  Cerani,  and  Martino  Bassi,  according  to  the 
desire  expressed  to  them  by  St.  Charles. 

Not  far  from  the  middle  door  is  to  be  seen  in  a  line  paral- 
lel with  the  front  of  the  temple  the  meridian  drawn  by  the 
astronomers  of  the  Observatory  (in  the  Palace  of  the  Brera) 
in  the  year  1786  ;  a  little  further  on,  is  a  stone  tomb,  con- 
taining the  remains  of  Eriberto,  Archbishop  of  Milan. 

Close  by,  there  is  a  square  space  which  forms  part  of  the 
left  arm  of  the  church.  In  this  enclosure  stands  the  richest 
and  finest  monument  that  the  temple  contains,  erected 
by  Pope  Pius  IV.,  the  maternal  uncle  of  St.  Charles, 
in  memory  of  his  brothers,  Gian  Giacomo  and  Gabriele 
Medici  of  Milan.  This  stately  monument  was  executed 
by  the  sculptor  Leone  Leoni,  surnamed  the  Chevalier 
Aretino,  after  the  design  of  the  celebrated    Michelangelo 


MILAN  CATHEDRAL  I7I 

Buonarroti  and  finished  in  1564  for  the  sum  of  7,800  scudi 
d'oro.  It  is  all  of  Carrara  marble  except  the  statues,  the  bas- 
reliefs  and  the  candelabra,  which  are  of  bronze  and  were  cast 
by  the  same  Leoni  j  it  is  adorned  with  six  columns  of  very 
fine  marble,  sent  expressly  from  Rome  by  the  above-men- 
tioned Pontiff^,  of  which  four  are  black-spotted,  veined  with 
white  and  two  of  a  reddish  colour.  In  the  middle  of  the 
monument  stands  the  colossal  statue  of  Gian  Giacomo 
Medici  and  in  the  space  between  the  columns  there  is  on 
each  side  a  beautiful  statue,  sitting  in  a  very  melancholy 
posture,  which  represent,  one.  Peace,  the  other,  Military 
Virtue. 

Near  this  monument,  is  another  small  altar,  entirely  of 
precious  marble  :  it  was  a  gift  of  the  above-mentioned  Pon- 
tiff; and  between  the  monument  and  the  altar,  a  small  door 
gives  entrance  to  a  winding  staircase  leading  to  the  outside, 
or  rather  to  the  series  of  roofs  of  this  magnificent  temple. 
Whoever  has  a  feeling  for  the  beautiful  cannot  help  admir- 
ing the  endless  number  of  statues  and  bas-reliefs  which  pre- 
sent themselves  to  the  astonished  eye,  the  greater  part  of 
which  were  executed  by  the  most  celebrated  artists  of  Europe. 
But  the  admiration  of  the  visitor  will  be  still  more  increased, 
when,  after  having  ascended  512  steps,  he  will  have  reached 
the  platform  at  the  foot  of  the  great  spire,  where  a  most 
beautiful  panorama  of  the  country  is  displayed  in  every  di- 
rection. Suffice  to  say  that  besides  the  great  number  of  pal- 
aces, churches,  gates,  promenades  and  villas  which  pass 
before  the  gazer  in  brilliant  succession,  a  rich  plain  extends 
to  the  Alps  on  one  side,  to  the  Apennines  and  the  skies  on 
the  other,  and  at  the  end  of  them  the  whole  chain  of  moun- 
tains which  stretches  from  Savoy  to  the  Grisons  and  termi- 
nate   only    in    the    Tyrol,  rise    distinctly   with    wonderful 


172  MILAN  CATHEDRAL 

majesty.  From  this  place  the  visitor  can  easily  and  at- 
tentively observe  the  lofty  great  spire  designed  by  Francesco 
Croce  on  the  top  of  which  is  placed  the  statue  of  the  Holy 
Virgin  of  gilt  copper  about  four  metres  high,  as  well  as  the 
136  spires  below  adorned  with  6,616  statues  and  bas-reliefs, 
each  of  them  supporting  a  colossal  statue.  He  may  also 
observe  the  remainder  of  all  the  ornaments  and  valuable 
works  which  adorn  this  wonder  of  the  world  and  would 
require  volumes  to  be  minutely  described.  Well  worth 
noticing  is  the  spire  with  an  interior  winding  staircase  lead- 
ing to  the  higher  one,  enriched  with  about  a  hundred  statues, 
besides  the  colossal  one  above,  and  decorated  with  a  great 
number  of  bas-reliefs.  This  work  was  executed  under  the 
guidance  of  the  celebrated  architect,  Pietro  Pestagalli. 

Before  reaching  the  steps  which  lead  up  to  the  high  altar 
and  the  choir,  the  visitor  will  see  an  opening  in  the  pave- 
ment surrounded  by  a  bronze  railing,  designed  by  the  painter 
Carlo  Ferrario,  which  serves  to  give  light  to  the  subter- 
ranean chapel  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo.  At  the  lateral 
extremities  of  the  steps,  there  are  two  pulpits  of  extraordi- 
nary workmanship  resting  on  the  two  large  pillars  support- 
ing the  great  cupola.  They  were  commenced  by  order  of 
St.  Charles  and  finished  under  the  care  of  the  Cardinal 
Federico  Borromeo,  his  kinsman.  They  are  supported  by 
four  beautiful  brass  caryatides  representing  on  the  right 
the  four  doctors  of  the  church  and  on  the  left  the 
four  Evangelists,  all  embellished  with  historical  and 
ornamental  plates  of  gilt  and  silvered  copper,  executed 
by  the  eminent  artists  Gio  Battista  Rusca  and  Francesco 
Brambilla. 

On  looking  upward  the  eye  sees  the  great  architrave  sup- 
ported by  two  colossal  statues  representing  two  prophets. 


MILAN  CATHEDRAL  1 73 

and  beyond  is  Jesus  Christ  hanging  from  the  Cross  with 
John  and  Mary  and  two  Angels  by  Santo  Corbetta.  The 
vault  is  painted  en  grisaille  upon  a  very  rich  gilt  ground 
under  the  direction  of  Alessandro  Sanquirico,  as  already 
stated.  On  it  is  also  to  be  seen  a  niche  formed  by  rays  of 
gilt  copper  with  a  gilt  railing  which  contains  the  Holy  Nail 
(//  Santo  Chiodo).  Suspended  from  the  vault  there  is  a  can- 
delabrum of  Gothic  style  and  singular  shape.  A  balus- 
trade divides  the  choir  from  the  chancel.  The  choir  stalls 
of  walnut,  masterfully  carved  by  the  most  skilful  artists, 
are  entitled  to  notice. 

In  the  centre  of  the  choir  stands  the  high  altar,  the  small 
dome  of  which  is  supported  by  eight  fluted  columns  of  gilt 
bronze,  standing  on  a  base  of  metal.  Likewise  of  metal  is 
the  little  dome  decorated  with  nine  statues,  representing 
our  Saviour  and  eight  Angels  with  the  symbols  of  the  Pas- 
sion. By  the  steps  behind  we  reach  the  small  dome,  where 
are  four  kneeling  Angels  supporting  the  Tabernacle  in  the 
form  of  a  tower.  This  work  was  executed  in  Rome  and 
given  as  a  present  by  Pope  Pius  IV.  Twelve  Apostles  deco- 
rate the  upper  part  of  the  Tabernacle  ;  in  the  centre  stands 
the  statue  of  the  Redeemer ;  and  many  bas-reliefs  decorate 
the  circumference  beneath. 

In  the  two  first  bays,  there  are  two  organs  enriched  with 
columns  and  bas-reliefs  of  gilt  wood  whose  parapets  to- 
wards the  naves  are  of  Carrara  marble  exquisitely  wrought 
in  arabesques.  The  pictures  which  serve  to  screen  the 
organs  from  the  chapel  represent  on  one  side  the  Passage  of 
the  Red  Sea,  the  Nativity,  and  the  Ascension  by  Ambrogio 
Figini ;  and  on  the  other  the  Triumph  of  David,  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Transfiguration  on  Mount  Tabor,  all 
painted  by  Camillo  Procaccini. 


174  MILAN  CATHEDRAL 

Seventeen  bas-reliefs  of  Carrara  marble  sculptured  by 
Biffi,  Prestinari,  Lasagni,  Vismara,  etc.,  decorate  the  outside 
of  the  choir.  These  are,  moreover,  separated  by  fifty-tvv^o 
Angels  and  other  bas-reliefs  executed  by  the  same  authors. 

Opposite  the  two  sacristies  there  is  a  screen  through 
which  by  means  of  a  staircase  the  visitors  descend  to  a  sub- 
terranean chapel  called  the  Scurolo^  in  the  middle  of  which 
is  an  altar  with  eight  columns,  supporting  a  vault  incrusted 
all  over  with  ornamental  details  of  stucco-work  designed  by 
Pellegrini.  A  spacious  gallery,  all  lined  with  marble  from 
the  finest  Italian  quarries,  and  a  portal  adorned  with  beau- 
tiful columns  having  the  capitals  and  bases  richly  gilt,  con- 
ducts to  the  sepulchral  chapel  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo.  It 
is  of  octagonal  form  and  the  vaulted  ceiling  is  decorated  with 
a  succession  of  silver  tablets  representing  the  most  remark- 
able events  of  the  life  of  this  benevolent  Archbishop,  while 
eight  busts,  or  caryatides,  in  the  angles  around  represent  alle- 
gorically  his  virtues.  Above  the  altar  stands  the  sarcophagus, 
made  of  rock  crystal  set  off  with  silver  and  containing  the 
venerated  remains  of  the  Saint  arrayed  in  pontifical  gar- 
ments, studded  with  precious  stones.  It  was  a  present  of 
Philip  IV.,  King  of  Spain,  whose  armorial  bearing  in  mass- 
ive gold  enriches  the  monument. 


CHICHESTER  CATHEDRAL 

FRANCIS  BOND 

CHICHESTER  CATHEDRAL,  though  one  of  the 
smallest,  is  to  the  student  of  Mediaeval  architecture 
one  of  the  most  interesting  and  important  of  our  cathedrals. 
At  Salisbury  one  or  two  styles  of  architecture  are  repre- 
sented ;  at  Canterbury  two  or  three ;  at  Chichester  every 
single  style  is  to  be  seen  without  a  break  from  the  Eleventh 
to  the  Sixteenth  Century.  It  is  an  epitome  of  English  ar- 
chitectural history  for  five  hundred  years.  Early  Norman, 
late  Norman,  late  Transitional,  early  Lancet,  late  Lancet, 
early  Geometrical,  late  Geometrical,  Curvilinear,  Perpen- 
dicular and  Tudor  work  all  appear  in  the  structure  side  by 
side.  We  have  many  other  heterogeneous  and  composite 
cathedrals,  but  nowhere,  except  perhaps  at  Hereford,  can 
the  whole  sequence  of  the  Mediaeval  styles  be  read  so  well 
as  at  Chichester. 

The  first  seat  of  the  diocese  was  on  the  coast  at  Selsea ; 
it  was  transferred  to  Chichester  by  Stigand  in  1082,  when 
other  Norman  prelates  removed  to  fortified  towns  such  as 
Lincoln,  Exeter  and  Norwich.  In  the  south  aisle  of  the 
choir  are  two  Saxon  slabs  representing  the  meeting  of  Christ 
with  Mary  and  Martha  and  the  raising  of  Lazarus.  The 
figures  are  the  tall,  emaciated,  but  dignified  figures  of  archaic 
Byzantine  art;  their  stature  carefully  proportionate  to  their 
importance ;  the  slabs  may  well  have  come  from  Selsea. 
Stigand  was  followed  by  Gosfried,  who  for  some  unknown 


176  CHICHESTER  CATHEDRAL 

sin  sought  and  obtained  absolution  from  the  Pope.  The 
original  document  in  lead  may  be  seen  in  the  library.  "  We, 
representing  St.  Peter,  the  chief  of  the  Apostles,  to  whom 
God  gave  the  power  of  building  and  loosing,  absolve  thee. 
Bishop  Godfrey,  so  far  as  thy  accusation  requests  and  the 
right  of  remission  belongs  to  us.  God  the  Redeemer  be 
thy  salvation  and  graciously  forgive  thee  all  thy  sins. 
Amen.  On  the  seventh  of  the  Calends  of  April,  on  the 
festival  of  St.  Firmin,  bishop  and  martyr,  died  Godfrey, 
Bishop  of  Chichester;  it  was  then  the  fifth  day  of  the 
moon." 

I.  Norman.  Godfrey  was  succeeded  in  1091  by  Ralph, 
whose  stone  coffin  marked  "  Radulphus "  may  be  seen  in 
the  Lady  Chapel.  Godfrey  built  the  present  Norman  Ca- 
thedral, or,  at  any  rate,  enough  of  it  to  allow  a  consecra- 
tion in  1 108.  Before  his  death  in  1123,  or  soon  after,  the 
whole  Cathedral  must  have  been  complete  except  the  west 
front  where  only  the  two  lower  stories  of  the  southwest 
tower  are  Norman. 

The  voluted  capital  of  Eleventh  Century  Norman  work 
— an  attempt  at  Ionic — which  appears  also  on  the  east  side 
of  Ely  transept — occurs  in  the  triforium  of  the  choir. 
The  work  in  the  four  eastern  bays  of  the  nave  is  a  little 
later;  the  four  western  bays,  in  which  the  triforium  is 
treated  differently,  were  possibly  not  built  till  after  the  fire 
in  1 1 14.  The  Norman  Church  had  the  same  ground  plan 
as  that  of  Norwich,  commenced  c.  1096,  and  Gloucester, 
commenced  c.  1089.  It  had  an  aisled  nave,  aisleless 
transept  with  eastern  apses,  aisled  choir,  apse  and  ambula- 
tory, and  a  chevet  of  three  radiating  chapels,  of  which  the 
side  chapels  were  semicircular,  the  central  or  eastern  chapel 
oblong,  as  at   Canterbury  and    Rochester.     Externally,  on 


CHICHESTER  CATHEDRAL  1 77 

the  south  wall  of  the  choir,  in  the  second  bay  from  the 
east,  may  be  seen  traces  of  the  curve  of  the  wall  of  the 
ancient  apse,  and  also  a  trjforium  window  which  originally 
was  in  the  centre  of  one  of  the  narrowed  bays  of  the  apse, 
but  has  now  ceased  to  be  central.  In  the  chamber  above 
the  library  the  curve  of  the  wall  of  the  apse  of  the  north 
transept  is  well  seen.  The  piers,  as  in  most  Eleventh 
Century  work,  are  monstrously  and  unnecessarily  heavy 
and  the  arches  constricted.  It  is  rather  a  monotonous  in- 
terior, with  the  same  design  from  choir  to  west  end.  It  is 
a  pity  that  they  did  not  give  us  a  different  and  improved 
design  in  the  nave,  as  was  done  at  Tewkesbury  and 
Gloucester.  Matters  have  been  made  worse  by  the  re- 
moval of  a  superb  Perpendicular  stone  rood-screen, 
crowned,  as  at  Exeter,  by  a  Renaissance  organ.  The  re- 
moval of  this  has  impaired  the  general  effect  of  the  interior, 
much  lessening  the  apparent  length  of  the  Cathedral.  As 
usual,  only  the  aisles  and  apses  of  the  Norman  Cathedral 
were  vaulted ;  the  aisles  here,  as  at  Southwell,  are  vaulted 
in  oblong  compartments.  It  was  dedicated  to  St.  Peter 
and  served  by  secular  Canons,  of  whom  in  1520  there  were 
thirty-one.  In  the  triforium  of  the  choir  were  semi- 
circular transverse  arches,  precisely  as  in  the  choir  of 
Durham. 

II.  Late  Transitional  and  Early  Lancet,  from  the  fire 
of  1 186  to  the  consecration  of  1199,  when  the  Cathedral 
was  rededicated  to  the  Holy  Trinity.  About  1 180,  some 
work  was  going  on  in  the  western  part  of  the  Lady 
Chapel,  but  in  a  great  fire  in  1186  the  roofs  and  fittings 
of  the  whole  Cathedral  were  burnt,  and  the  clerestories 
were  no  doubt  damaged  by  falling  timbers.  The  destruc- 
tion, however,  was  by  no  means  so  great  as  at  Canterbury 


178  CHICHESTER  CATHEDRAL 

in  the  fire  of  1182,  and  no  such  drastic  process  of  re- 
building was  necessary. 

Siegfried  probably  commenced  with  the  choir,  which 
was  most  wanted.  The  masonry  of  the  ground  story  had 
probably  been  calcined  by  the  roof-timbers  blazing  on  the 
floor;  the  inner  face  of  this  was  cased  with  good  Caen 
stone.  As  at  Canterbury  great  use  was  made  of  Purbeck 
marble,  in  which  were  built  angle-shafts  and  capitals  to 
the  piers,  hood-moulds  for  the  pier-arches,  string-courses 
below  and  above  the  triforium,  and  arcading  to  the  clere- 
story. In  front  of  each  pier  a  triple  vaulting  shaft  was  run 
up  with  a  marble  capital,  supporting  the  new  quadripartite 
vault.  Externally,  the  clerestory  wall  was  supported  by 
flying-buttresses  of  heavy  archaic  type,  similar  to  those  of 
the  choirs  of  Canterbury  and  Boxgrove.  Later  on  the  same 
treatment  was  extended  by  Siegfried  and  his  successors  to 
the  nave  and  transepts. 

His  next  step  was  to  remove  the  Norman  apse  and  to 
build  an  aisled  retro-choir  of  two  bays.  This  is  the  archi- 
tectural gem  of  the  Cathedral.  The  idea  of  it  probably  came 
from  Hereford,  where  the  retro-choir  is  a  few  years  earlier. 
At  Hereford,  however,  the  retro-choir  projects  pictur- 
esquely, and  forms  an  eastern  transept.  The  central  piers  of 
the  Chichester  retro-choir  are  remarkably  beautiful.  They 
consist  of  a  central  column  surrounded  by  four  shafts  very 
widely  detached  ;  column  and  shaft  are  of  Purbeck  marble. 
The  capitals  are  Corinthianesque  ;  their  height  is  propor- 
tioned to  the  diameters  of  the  column  and  shafts.  This 
beautiful  capital  was  reproduced  a  few  years  later  by 
St.  Hugh  at  Lincoln,  and  the  pier  at  Boxgrove.  The 
triforium  is  of  quite  exceptional  beauty,  as  indeed  is  the 
whole    design.       Semicircular   arches    occur    in    the    pier- 


CHICHESTER  CATHEDRAL  1 79 

arcade  and  triforium,  and  some  of  the  abaci  are  square  ; 
otherwise  the  design  is  pure  Gothic.  Here,  as  at  Abbey 
Dore,  St.  Thomas',  Portsmouth,  Boxgrove  and  Wells,  we 
see  the  transition  from  the  Transition  to  the  "  pure  and 
undefiled  Gothic"  of  St.  Hugh's  choir  at  Lincoln.  In 
these  beautiful  churches  the  ancient  Romanesque  style 
breathed  its  last. 

The  isles  of  the  new  retro-choir  were  continued  on 
either  side  of  the  first  bay  of  the  Norman  Lady  Chapel, 
whose  three  bays  had  probably  been  remodelled  before  the 
fire  in  Transitional  fashion.  The  capitals  of  the  Lady 
Chapel  are  of  exceptional  interest  and  importance,  as  show- 
ing experimental  foliation  which  had  not  yet  settled  down 
into  the  conventional  leafage  of  early  Gothic.  The  apse 
also  of  the  south  transept  was  replaced  by  a  square  chapel ; 
and  that  of  the  north  transept  by  a  double  chapel  now  used 
as  a  library  in  the  vaulting  of  which  the  Norman  zigzag 
occurs. 

IIL  A  little  later  in  the  Lancet  period  was  built 
(i  199-1245)  the  lovely  south  porch,  with  small,  exquisite 
mouldings  and  charming  foliated  capitals  and  corbels.  The 
difference  between  early  Transitional,  late  Transitional  and 
Lancet  foliation  may  be  well  seen  by  examining  success- 
ively the  capitals  of  the  Lady  Chapel,  the  triforium  of  the 
retro-choir,  and  the  south  porch.  The  north  porch  is 
almost  equally  fine.  The  vaulting-ribs,  square  in  section, 
show  that  the  two  porches  both  belong  to  the  very  first 
years  of  the  Thirteenth  Century.  Rather  later  the 
sacristy  was  built  on  to  the  south  porch,  with  a  massive 
vault  supported  by  foliated  corbels. 

IV.  In  the  Early  Geometrical  period  (i 245-1 280) 
building     still    went    on    unremittingly.      The    southwest 


l8o  CHICHESTER  CATHEDRAL 

tower  was  raised  to  its  present  height  j  the  low  Norman 
central  tower  was  replaced  by  a  higher  one  :  it  is  curious 
that  this  tower  is  oblong  in  plan  ;  the  transept,  contrary  to 
custom,  being  wider  than  nave  or  choir.  A  pretty  circular 
window,  with  cusped  circles  and  tooth  ornament,  was 
inserted  in  the  eastern  gable  of  the  retro-choir,  and  a  fine 
Galilee  porch  was  added  to  the  west  front,  as  at  Ely. 

But  the  great  change  that  was  destined  to  alter  the  whole 
character  of  the  nave  was  the  addition  of  chapels.  In  our 
parish  churches  it  is  common  enough  to  find  that  pious  and 
wealthy  parishioners  have  been  allowed  to  tack  family 
chapels  on  to  the  aisles  or  nave. 

In  Dorchester  Priory  Church  there  is  a  south  aisle  run- 
ning the  whole  length  of  the  church  made  up  of  nothing 
but  a  series  of  chantry-chapels.  This  was  common 
enough,  too,  in  the  French  cathedrals — e.  g.^  Paris  and 
Amiens.  But  the  naves  of  the  English  cathedrals  were 
not  as  a  rule  tampered  with  in  this  way.  At  Chichester, 
however,  there  were  built,  one  after  another,  four  sets  of 
chapels — of  St.  George  and  St.  Clement  on  the  south  side 
of  the  south  aisle,  and  of  St.  Thomas,  St.  Anne  and  St. 
Edmund  on  the  north  of  the  north  aisle.  The  windows 
should  be  studied  in  the  above  order;  they  form  quite  an 
excellent  object-lesson  of  the  evolution  of  bar-tracery  from 
plate-tracery,  itself  a  derivative  from  such  designs  as  that  of 
the  east  window  of  the  south  transept  chapel.  When  the 
chapels  were  completed,  the  Norman  aisle-walls  were 
pierced,  and  arches  were  inserted  where  Norman  windows 
had  been ;  and  the  Lancet  buttresses,  which  had  been  added 
when  the  nave-vault  was  erected,  now  found  themselves  in- 
side the  church,  buttressing  piers  instead  of  walls.  The 
new  windows  on  the  south  side  were  built  so  high  that  the 


CHICHESTER  CATHEDRAL  lOI 

vaulting  of  the  chapels  had  to  be  tilted  up  to  allow  room 
for  their  heads;  externally  they  were  originally  crowned 
with  gables,  the  weatherings  of  which  may  be  seen  outside. 
In  St.  Thomas'  Chapel  is  a  charming  example  of  a  simple 
Thirteenth  Century  reredos. 

The  addition  of  these  outer  aisles  makes  Chichester 
unique  among  the  English  cathedrals,  though  it  may  be 
paralleled  in  Elgin  Cathedral  and  many  a  parish  church. 
Artistically,  the  contrast  of  the  gloomy  and  heavy  Norman 
nave  with  the  lightness  and  brightness  of  the  chapels  be- 
hind is  most  delightful ;  the  nave  looks  infinitely  larger  and 
more  spacious  than  it  is  ;  it  is  never  all  seen  at  a  glance  like 
the  empty  nave  of  York,  and  is  full  of  changing  vistas  and 
delightful  perspectives.  Accidentally,  the  Thirteenth 
Century  builders  had  hit  on  a  new  source  of  picturesque- 
ness. 

V.  Late  Geometrical.  Between  1288  and  1304  the 
Lady  Chapel  was  lengthened  by  two  bays,  and  the  end  bay 
of  the  former  chapel  was  revaulted.  So  that  what  we  see 
is  a  Norman  chapel  transmogrified  into  a  Transitional  one, 
and  that  once  more  altered  and  extended.  The  new  work 
was  done  just  when  people  had  tired  of  conventional  foliage, 
and  hurried  into  naturalism.  The  capitals  are  another  ob- 
ject-lesson in  Gothic  foliation.  The  window-tracery,  with 
long-lobed  trefoils,  occurs  also  in  the  beautiful  chapel  of 
the  Mediaeval  hospital,  which  should  by  all  means  be  visited. 

It  may  be  asked  where  did  the  Chichester  people  get  the 
money  for  all  these  great  works  ?  It  was  from  pilgrims. 
They  had  had  the  great  luck  to  get  a  saint  of  their  own. 
Bishop  Richard.  He  was  consecrated  in  1245,  ^^^^  •" 
1253,  was  canonized  in  1260. 

VI.  Curvilinear    (1315-1360).     Next    the  Canons  set 


l82  CHICHESTER  CATHEDRAL 

themselves  to  work  to  improve  the  lighting  of  the  Cathedral, 
which  was  bad;  all  the  windows,  except  those  in  the  new 
chapels,  being  small  single  lights.  A  fine  window  of  flow- 
ing tracery  was  inserted  in  the  eastern  chapel  of  the  south 
choir  aisle  (now  filled  with  admirable  glass  by  Mr.  Kempe). 
And  the  south  wall  of  the  transept  was  taken  down  alto- 
gether and  rebuilt.  Here  is  another  fine  circular  window. 
Bishop  Langton,  who  gave  the  money  for  this  work,  is 
buried  below.  The  drainage,  too,  of  the  roofs  was 
improved  ;  gutters  and  parapets  being  substituted  for  drip- 
ping eaves.  To  this  period,  also,  belong  the  stalls  with 
ogee  arches  and  compound  cusping  and  good  misereres. 

VII.  In  the  Perpendicular  period  (1360-1485),  the  im- 
provements in  lighting  were  continued,  the  north  wall  of 
the  transept  being  treated  in  similar  fashion  to  that  opposite. 
But  settlements  were  the  result,  and  a  flying-buttress  had  to 
be  added  to  steady  the  north  wall.  And  at  length  the 
tower  was  crowned  with  a  beautiful  spire,  not  quite  so 
slender  and  graceful  as  those  of  Salisbury  and  Louth  ;  more 
on  the  lines  of  the  Lichfield  spires.  An  upper  story  and 
buttresses  were  added  to  the  sacristy,  and  the  Canons'  Gate- 
way was  built. 

VIII.  In  the  Tudor  period  an  irregular  three-sided 
cloister  was  built  in  a  quite  abnormal  position  encircling 
the  south  transept.  The  object  of  it  was  to  provide  a 
covered  way  to  the  Cathedral  for  the  Canons  as  well  as  for 
the  Vicars,  whose  Close  is  hard  by.  The  central  tower 
seems  to  have  shown  signs  of  weakness  under  the  weight  of 
the  new  spire  ;  and  so  a  detached  Campanile  was  built,  as 
at  Salisbury.  Bishop  Sherborne  built  a  grand  stone  screen 
(1508-1536)  occupying  the  whole  of  the  crossing  and  con- 
taining chantries  ;  much  of  it  exists,  in  fragments,  under  the 


CHICHESTER  CATHEDRAL  1 83 

Campanile.  To  the  time  of  Henry  VII.  belongs  the 
Poultry  Cross. 

IX.  In  1859  the  central  tower  was  found  to  be  in 
danger.  Underpinning  was  resorted  to,  but  matters  got 
worse.  "  At  noon  on  Feb.  21,  1861,  the  workmen 
were  ordered  out  of  the  building,  and  the  people  living  in 
the  neighbouring  houses  were  warned  of  their  danger ; 
about  an  hour  and  a  half  later  the  spire  was  seen  to  incline 
slightly  to  the  southwest  and  then  to  sink  perpendicularly 
through  the  roof.  Thus  was  fulfilled  literally  the  old 
Sussex  saying  : 

"  If  Chichester  Church  Steeple  fall. 
In  England  there's  no  king  at  all." 

In  1866  the  tower  and  spire  were  rebuilt;  the  tower 
raised  slightly  so  that  the  belfry  windows  might  clear  the 
roofs. 


REIMS  CATHEDRAL 

AUGUSTUS  J.   C.  HARE 

THE  town  of  Reims  till  recently  one  of  the  most  pic- 
turesque in  France,  is  now  intersected  by  wide  and 
handsome  streets,  in  the  style  of  Parisian  boulevards  which 
give  it  quite  another  character.  There  are  many  who  will 
deplore  the  change  to  the  straight  lines  and  featureless  char- 
acter of  the  present  approach  from  the  quaint  street  which 
formerly  led  to  the  west  front  of  the  Cathedral.  The  mag- 
nificent Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  which  has  undergone 
complete  restoration  under  Viollet-le-Duc,  is  one  of  the 
finest  buildings  in  the  Christian  world.  Henri  Martin 
writes : 

"This  prodigy  of  magnificence  with  its  army  of  five 
thousand  statues  which  flashes  in  the  rays  of  the  setting  sun 
the  resplendent  windows  of  its  pierced  facade  like  a  wall  of 
sparkling  jewels." 

"Unlike  most  cathedrals,"  says  Michelet,  "this  is  com- 
plete. Rich,  transparent  and  highly  adorned  in  her  colossal 
coquetry  she  seems  to  be  awaiting  a  festival  and  is  not  dis- 
turbed because  it  does  not  take  place.  Charged  and  over- 
charged with  sculptures  and  covered  more  than  any  other 
cathedral  with  sacerdotal  emblems,  she  symbolizes  the  union 
of  king  and  priest.  On  the  exterior  rails  of  the  transept 
the  devils  romp  and  play  :  they  slide  down  the  sharp  inclines  ; 
and  they  make  faces  at  the  town  and  the  people  that  are 
pilloried  at  the  foot  of  the  Angels'  Tower." 


REIMS  CATHEDRAL 


REIMS  CATHEDRAL 


185 


The  little  basilica  where  S.  Remi  baptized  Clovis  was  re- 
placed in  the  Ninth  Century  by  a  church  which  was  built 
in  121 1,  and  in  the  following  year  Archbishop  Albenc  Hum- 
bert began  to  raise  a  new  cathedral  upon  a  gigantic  scale  ; 
he  pushed  the  work  with  such  vigour  that  it  was  finished  in 
1242      The  wonderful  unity  of  the  architecture  attests  the 
rapidity  of  the  work.    The  architects  employed  were  Bernard 
de  Soissons,  Gauthier  de  Reims,  Jean  d'  Orbais  and  Jean 
Loups.     At  the  end  of  the  Thirteenth  Century  the  church 
was  found  to  be  too  small  for  the  vast  crowds  who  flocked 
to  the  coronations,  and  the  nave  was  lengthened,  the  present 
facade  having  been  finished  in  the  course  of  the  Fourteenth 
Century  from  designs  of  the  Thirteenth  Century  under  the 
architect  Robert  de  Coucy.     On  July  24,  148 1,  a  terrible 
fire  consumed  the  roof,  the  five  lead  spires  of  the  transept, 
the  balustrades,  and  as  much  as  had  been  executed  of  the 
west  spires,  which  were  not  replaced.     In  the  Eighteenth 
Century  many  valuable   architectural  details  perished,  and 
many  of  the  statues  on  the  west  front  were  destroyed  for 
fear  of  their  falling  during  the  coronation  of  Charles  X.  m 
1825.     The  beautiful  cloistered  parvis  of  the  Cathedral  re- 
mained entire  till  the  coronation  of  Louis  XVI. 

The  principal  features  of  the  glorious  west  facade  of 
Reims  are  its  three  portals-of  the  Virgin,  St.  Paul  (left) 
and  The  Last  Judgment  (right)-with  their  numerous  stat- 
ues;  the  great  rose-window,  framed  in  a  Gothic  arch,  deco- 
rated with  statues  like  the  doors;  the  Galerie  de  Rois  (de 
France) ;  and  the  towers,-that  on  the  south  contams  the  two 
great  bells.  In  the  central  porch  the  Madonna  has  the  prin- 
cipal place  (not  Christ,  as  at  Chartres,  Amiens  and  Pans). 
"All  the  dignity  and  grace  of  the  style  here  reaches  a 
truly  classical  expression.    Nevertheless,  even  here,  in  one  of 


1 86  REIMS  CATHEDRAL 

the  master-works  of  the  time,  we  find  great  variety  in  the 
mode  of  treatment.  There  are  heavy,  stunted  statues  with 
clumsy  heads  and  vacant  expression,  like  the  earlier  works 
at  Chartres  ;  others  are  of  the  most  refined  beauty,  full  of 
nobility  and  tenderness,  graceful  in  proportion,  and  with 
drapery  which  falls  in  stately  folds,  free  in  movement  and 
with  gentle  loveliness  or  sublime  dignity  of  expression  ; 
others  again  are  exaggerated  in  height,  awkward  in  propor- 
tion, caricatured  in  expression  and  affected  in  attitude " 
(LUbke). 

The  north  transept  had  two  portals.  The  greater — of  S. 
Remi — has  statues  of  the  principal  bishops  of  Reims. 

"  That  different  hands  were  employed  on  the  same  portal 
may  be  seen  in  the  forty-two  small  seated  figures  of  bishops, 
kings  and  saints,  which,  in  three  rows,  fill  the  hollows  of 
the  archivolts.  They  are,  one  and  all,  of  enchanting  beauty, 
grace  and  dignity  ;  the  little  heads  delightful ;  the  attitudes 
most  varied  ;  the  drapery  nobly  arranged  and  so  varied  in 
conception  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  conceive  more  in- 
genious variations"  (Liibke). 

The  smaller  portal,  amongst  other  statues,  has  the  beauti- 
ful figure  of  Christ  in  benediction,  known  as  Le  Beau  Dieu. 

"  This  is  a  work  of  such  beauty  that  it  may  be  considered 
the  most  solemn  plastic  creation  of  its  time.  It  shows  per- 
fect understanding  and  admirable  execution  of  the  whole 
form  in  its  faultless  proportions,  and,  moreover,  there  is  such 
majesty  in  the  mild,  calm  expression  of  the  head,  over  which 
the  hair  falls  in  soft  waves,  that  the  divine  seriousness  of 
the  sublime  Teacher  seems  glorified  by  truest  grace.  The 
right  hand  is  uplifted,  and  the  three  forefingers  stretched 
out ;  the  left  hand  holds  the  orb,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the 
mantle  which  is  drawn  across  the  figure,  and  the  noble  folds 


REIMS  CATHEDRAL  1 87 

of  which  are  produced  by  the  advancing  position  of  the  right 
foot.  The  following  of  nature  in  this  masterly  figure  is  in 
all  its  details  so  perfect  that  not  merely  the  nails  of  the  fin- 
gers, but  the  structure  of  the  joints,  is  characterized  in  the 
finest  manner  "  (Liiblce). 

Equally  beautiful  are  the  reliefs  on  the  tympanum,  repre- 
senting the  Last  Resurrection  and  Judgment.  In  the  former 
the  varied  emotions  of  the  many  figures  rising  from  their 
tombs  are  marvellously  expressed.  On  the  frame  of  the 
rose-window  above  are  colossal  figures  of  Adam  and  Eve, 
and  over  this  a  gallery  with  seven  statues  of  prophets;  higher 
still  the  Annunciation. 

Beneath  the  rose  of  the  south  transept,  behind  the  arch- 
bishop's palace,  are  statues  representing  the  Church  and  the 
Synagogue,  and,  in  the  gable,  the  Assumption.  The 
Angels'  Tower,  over  the  choir,  is  the  only  one  restored 
after  the  fire  of  148 1.     At  its  foot  are  statues. 

"  There  are  eight  figures  of  gigantic  size  that  serve  as 
caryatides.  One  of  them  holds  a  purse  from  which  he  is 
taking  some  money,  another  shows  arrow  wounds  :  others 
also,  pierced  with  wounds,  personify  lacerated  tax-gathers. 
Several  amateurs  believe  that  these  figures  allude  to  a  re- 
volt on  the  question  of  the  gabelle  (Salt  tax)  in  1461,  known 
under  the  name  of  mique-maque.  Louis  XL  had  two  hun- 
dred of  the  rebels  hanged.  Others  think  that  in  the 
Eleventh  Century  the  Remois  in  revolt  against  Gervais, 
their  archbishop,  were  forced  to  build  the  bell-tower 
at  their  expense.  Four  similar  statues  were  placed 
on  the  silver  columns  that  surrounded  the  high  altar " 
(Michelet). 

The  interior  of  Reims  Cathedral  is  466  feet  long  and 
121   feet  high.     The  nave  and  transepts  have  aisles.     The 


1 88  REIMS  CATHEDRAL 

nave  has  eight  bays,  and  the  transepts  project  to  the  depth 
of  a  single  bay.  Above  the  aisles  is  a  triforium.  Eight 
chapels  radiate  around  the  choir.  The  exquisite  sculpture 
of  the  capitals  in  the  nave  deserves  attention.  Over  the 
great  vilest  portal  the  Martyrdom  of  S.  Nicaise,  at  the 
entrance  of  the  original  church,  is  commemorated  in 
sculpture  i  and  over  the  whole  west  wall  are  little  statues 
in  niches,  sometimes  combined  into  scenes,  such  as  the 
Massacre  of  the  Innocents.  A  population  of  statues  fills 
the  whole  church.  On  the  buttresses  of  the  choir  chapels 
are  small  figures  of  adoring  angels ;  while  in  the  niches 
stand  larger  angels,  as  guardians  of  the  house  of  God.  To 
most  visitors,  however,  the  chief  interest  of  the  interior 
will  be  derived  from  its  beautiful  Thirteenth  Century  glass, 
and  its  rich  decoration  of  tapestries,  of  which  fourteen  (at 
the  transept  end  of  the  nave)  were  given  by  Robert  de 
Lenoncourt  in  1530.  Then  (nearer  the  west)  come  two 
remaining  out  of  the  six  called  Tapisseries  du  fort  roi  Clovis^ 
given  by  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine  in  1570 ;  then  (more 
west)  a  selection  from  the  splendid  Tapisseries  de  Perpersack 
(named  from  a  manufacturer  of  great  repute,  who  worked 
for  the  Duke  of  Mantua),  given  in  1633  by  Archbishop 
Henri  de  Lorraine.  In  the  right  transept  are  sometimes 
hung  some  Gobelin  tapestries,  from  designs  of  Raphael, 
given  by  the  government  in  1848.  In  the  left  transept  is 
a  clock  with  figures.  The  organ  is  of  148 1  by  Oudin 
Hestre.  In  the  Chapelle  S.  Jean  is  the  Thirteenth  Cen- 
tury monument  of  Hugues  Libergier,  architect  of 
S.  Nicaise. 

The  interesting  contents  of  the  Treasury  {le  Tresor^ 
shown  by  the  sacristan)  include  le  Reliquaire  de  Sanson 
(Twelfth   Century);    le    Reliquaire    de   SS.   Pierre  et   Paul 


REIMS  CATHEDRAL  1 89 

(Fourteenth  Century);  le  Reliquaire  du  S.  Sepulcre  (Six- 
teenth Century),  given  by  Henri  II.  at  his  coronation ;  le 
Faisseau  de  S.  Ursule,  given  by  Henri  III. ;  the  chasuble 
of  S.  Thomas  a  Becket;  the  Twelfth  Century  chalice, 
called  Chalice  de  S.  Remi ;  le  Reliquaire  de  la  S.  Ampoule, 
made  for  the  coronation  of  Charles  X.,  with  a  vast  quantity 
of  church  plate  given  by  that  king. 

"  They  use  two  crowns  at  a  coronation  :  the  large  one 
of  Charlemagne  and  another  made  for  the  head  of  the  king 
and  enriched  with  precious  stones.  The  large  one  is  so 
large  that  it  cannot  be  worn ;  but  is  used  at  the  coronation. 
It  was  made  so  that  each  one  of  the  eleven  peers  could 
place  his  hand  upon  it  at  the  moment  when  the  Archbishop 
of  Reims  held  it  over  the  head  of  the  king.  They  carried 
it  to  the  throne  in  the  rood-loft  where  the  ceremony  took 
place"  (S.  Simon  M'emoires^  1722). 

Of  the  many  historic  events  which  this  old  Cathedral 
has  witnessed,  the  most  important  to  French  history  was 
doubtless  the  coronation  of  Charles  VII. : 

"The  sacrament  took  place  in  Notre  Dame  de  Reims 
according  to  the  customary  rites  ;  the  Due  d'  Alen^on,  the 
Comtes  de  Clermont  and  Vend6me,the  Sires  de  laTremouille 
and  de  Laval  and  another  lord  represented  the  six  lay  peers 
of  the  ancient  monarchy  ;  the  attention  of  the  spectators, 
however,  was  far  less  attracted  to  the  chief  actors  than  to 
Jeanne  la  Pucelle  standing  near  the  altar  with  her  standard  in 
her  hand.  This  celestial  figure  illuminated  by  the  mysterious 
rays  that  fell  through  the  painted  glass  seemed  the  angel 
of  France  presiding  at  the  resurrection  of  the  country :  one 
would  say  that  at  the  call  of  the  trumpets  which  sounded 
loud  enough  to  burst  the  vault  of  the  Cathedral  all  that  vast 
concourse  of  mute  and  motionless  seraphim,  bishops  and 


190  REIMS  CATHEDRAL 

kings  which  fill  and  surround  the  august  basilica  were  called 
into  life. 

"  After  the  peers  had  proclaimed  the  king  and  Charles  VII. 
had  been  anointed,  Jeanne  advanced  towards  him  and  em- 
braced his  knees  '  weeping  hot  tears.' 

'■'■^Gentil  roi^  she  said,  '  ores  est  execute  le  plaisir  de  Dieu^ 
qui  vouloit  que  vous  vinssiez  a  Reims  recevoir  votre  digne  sacre^ 
en  montrant  que  vous  etes  vrai  roi^  et  celui  auquel  le  royaume 
doit  appartenir.* 

"  Acclamations,  broken  by  sympathetic  weeping,  were 
heard  in  all  parts  of  the  Cathedral.  It  was  France  awaking 
to  a  new  birth,  who  was  crowning  herself.  Nothing  so 
great  had  taken  place  in  the  city  of  Saint-Remi  since  the 
day  that  the  Apostle  of  the  Franks  had  initiated  Clovis  and 
his  people  into  the  Christian  faith  "  (Henri  Martin). 


ST.  ISAAC'S,  ST.  PETERSBURG 

THEOPHILE   GAUTIER 

THE  Church  of  St.  Isaac's  shines  in  the  first  rank  among 
the  religious  edifices  that  adorn  the  capital  of  All 
the  Russias.  Of  modern  construction,  it  may  be  consid- 
ered as  the  supreme  effort  of  Nineteenth  Century  architec- 
ture. Undertaken  in  1819,  under  Alexander  I.,  continued 
under  Nicolas  I.,  finished  under  Alexander  II.  in  1858,  St. 
Isaac's  is  a  complete  edifice,  finished  externally  and  inter- 
nally with  absolute  unity  of  style.  It  is  not,  like  many  ca- 
thedrals, a  crystallization  of  centuries  in  which  each  epoch 
has  to  some  extent  secreted  its  stalactite,  and  in  which  too 
often  the  sap  of  faith,  arrested  or  slowed  in  its  flow,  has  not 
been  able  to  reach  its  bud. 

People  usually  enter  St.  Isaac's  by  the  south  door;  but 
the  west  door,  facing  the  iconostase,  gives  the  finest  view 
of  the  interior.  From  the  outset,  you  are  struck  with 
amazement;  the  gigantic  grandeur  of  the  architecture,  the 
profusion  of  the  rarest  marbles,  the  splendour  of  the  gilding, 
the  fresco  tints  of  the  mural  paintings,  the  gleam  of  the 
polished  pavement  in  which  objects  are  reflected,  all  com- 
bine to  produce  a  dazzling  impression  upon  you,  especially 
if  your  eyes  turn,  as  they  cannot  fail  to  do,  towards  the 
iconostase,  a  marvellous  edifice,  a  temple  within  a  temple, 
a  facade  of  gold,  malachite  and  lapis-lazuli,  with  massive 
silver  doors,  which  is,  however,  nothing  but  the  veil  of  the 
sanctuary.     Towards  it  the  eye   turns  invincibly,  whether 


192  ST.  ISAAC'S,  ST.  PETERSBURG 

the  open  doors  reveal  in  its  sparkling  transparency  the 
colossal  Christ  on  glass,  or  whether,  closed,  we  see  only 
over  the  rounded  entrance  the  curtain,  the  purple  of  which 
seems  to  have  been  dyed  in  the  Divine  blood. 

The  interior  division  of  the  edifice  is  so  simple  that  the 
eye  and  mind  can  grasp  it  at  once  :  three  naves  terminating 
at  the  three  doors  of  the  iconostase  are  cut  transversely  by  the 
nave  which  forms  the  arm  of  the  cross  which  is  coupled  on 
the  exterior  of  the  building  by  the  jutting  of  the  porticoes; 
at  the  angles  four  domes  produce  symmetry  and  mark  the 
architectural  rhythm. 

A  lower  base  of  marble  supports  the  Corinthian  Order, 
with  fluted  columns  and  pilasters,  with  bases  and  capitals 
of  gilded  bronze  and  ormolu,  which  adorns  the  edifice. 
This  Order,  attached  to  the  walls  and  massive  pillars  that 
support  the  springings  of  the  vaults  and  the  roof,  is  sur- 
mounted by  an  attic  cut  by  pilasters  forming  panels  and 
frames  for  the  paintings.  On  this  attic  rest  the  archivolts, 
the  tympanums  of  which  are  decorated  with  religious  sub- 
jects. 

The  walls  between  the  columns  and  pilasters,  from  the 
lower  base  up  to  the  cornice,  are  cased  with  white  marble 
in  which  are  panels  and  compartments  of  the  green  marble 
of  Genoa,  speckled  marble,  yellow  Sienna,  variegated  jasper, 
red  Finland  porphyry,  the  finest  that  the  veins  of  the  rich- 
est quarries  could  supply.  Recessed  niches  supported  by 
consoles  contain  paintings,  and  appropriately  break  up  the 
flat  surfaces. 

The  rosettes  and  modillions  of  the  soffits  are  of  gilt 
bronze  and  stand  out  boldly  from  their  marble  caissons. 
The  ninety-six  columns  or  pilasters  come  from  the  Tvidi 
quar-ies,  which  furnish  a  beautiful  marble  veined  with  grey 


ST.  ISAAC'S,  ST.   PETERSBURG  1 93 

and  rose.  The  white  marbles  come  from  the  quarries  of 
Seravezza. 

Having  given  this  faint  idea  of  the  interior,  let  us  arrive 
at  the  cupola  that  opens  over  the  head  of  the  visitor  a  gulf 
suspended  in  the  air  vv^ith  an  irresistible  solidity,  in  which 
iron,  bronze,  brick,  granite  and  marble  combine  their  almost 
eternal  resistances  in  accordance  with  the  best  calculated 
laws  of  mathematics. 

From  the  floor  level  to  the  lantern  vault  the  height  is 
296  feet  eight  inches.  The  length  of  the  edifice  is  288 
feet  eight  inches  ;  and  the  breadth  149  feet  eight  inches. 
On  the  lantern  vault,  a  colossal  Holy  Spirit  expands  his 
white  wings  amid  rays,  at  an  immense  height.  Lower 
down  is  a  demi-cupola  with  golden  palmettos  on  a  blue 
field ;  then  comes  the  great  spherical  vault  of  the  dome, 
edged  at  its  upper  opening  with  a  cornice  the  frieze  of 
which  is  ornamented  with  garlands  and  gilded  angels,  rest- 
ing its  base  on  the  entablature  of  an  Order  of  twelve  fluted 
Corinthian  pilasters  that  separate  and  form  twelve  equal 
windows. 

A  sham  balustrade  that  serves  as  transition  between  the 
architecture  and  the  painting  crowns  this  entablature  and 
in  the  space  of  a  vast  sky  is  a  great  composition  represent- 
ing the  Triumph  of  the  Virgin.  The  mystical  idea  of  this 
vast  painting  is  the  triumph  of  the  Church,  symbolized  by 
the  Virgin. 

The  paintings  of  St.  Isaac's  are  nowise  archaic,  contrary 
to  the  custom  of  the  Russian  Church,  which  usually  con- 
forms to  the  fixed  models  of  the  early  days  of  the  Greek 
Church,  still  traditionally  conserved  by  the  religious  painters 
of  Mount  Athos. 

Twelve   great  gilded  angels,  acting  as  caryatides,  support 


194  ST.   ISAAC'S,   ST.    PETERSBURG 

consoles  on  which  rest  the  socles  of  the  pilasters  that  form 
the  interior  Order  of  the  dome,  and  separate  the  windows. 
They  measure  no  less  than  twenty-one  feet  in  height. 
They  were  made  by  a  process  that,  notwithstanding  their 
size,  rendered  them  so  light  as  not  to  overburden  the 
cupola.  This  crown  of  gilded  angels  that  is  flooded  with 
bright  light  and  made  to  glitter  with  metallic  reflections, 
produces  an  extremely  rich  effect.  The  figures  are  dis- 
posed after  a  certain  settled  architectural  line,  but  with  a 
variety  of  expression  and  movement  that  is  sufficient  to 
avoid  the  weariness  that  would  result  from  too  rigorous  a 
uniformity.  Various  attributes,  such  as  books,  palms, 
crosses,  scales,  crowns  and  trumpets  accompany  slight 
inflexions  of  pose,  and  illustrate  the  celestial  functions  of 
these  brilliant  statues. 

The  spaces  between  the  angels  are  filled  by  seated 
apostles  and  prophets,  each  accompanied  by  the  symbol  by 
which  he  is  recognized.  All  these  figures,  broadly  draped 
and  in  good  style,  stand  out  from  a  light  background  with 
fine  value.  The  general  tone  is  clear,  approaching  as 
closely  as  possible  to  fresco. 

The  Four  Evangelists,  of  colossal  size,  occupy  the 
pendentives.  The  strange  form  of  the  pendentives  neces- 
sitated a  tormenting  of  the  composition  so  that  it  should 
occupy  the  required  space,  and  the  trouble  imposed  by  the 
frame  often  resulted  in  profit  to  the  inspiration.  These 
Evangelists  are  full  of  character. 

In  the  attic  of  the  transverse  nave  forming  the  arm  of 
the  cross,  on  the  right,  facing  the  iconostase,  we  notice  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount.  The  two  lateral  pictures  have  the 
Sower  and  the  Good  Samaritan  for  subjects.  In  the  vault, 
in  a  panel  framed  with  rich  ornamentation,  cherubim  hold  a 


ST.  ISAAC'S,  ST.  PETERSBURG  1 95 

book  against  a  background  of  sky.  Facing  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount,  at  the  other  end  of  the  nave,  in  the  attic,  is  an 
enormous  Multiplication  of  Loaves.  The  pictures  in  the 
two  side  walls  represent  the  Return  of  the  Prodigal  Son  and 
the  Labourer  of  the  Last  Hour  whom  the  overseers  want  to 
turn  away  and  the  Master  welcomes.  Cherubim  raising  a 
ciborium  are  painted  on  the  panel  of  the  vault. 

The  middle  nave,  going  from  the  transept  to  the  door, 
has  in  its  tympanum  Jehovah  enthroned  amid  a  swarm  of 
angels  and  cherubs.  The  terrestrial  Paradise,  with  its  trees, 
flowers  and  animals,  beautifies  the  attic.  In  the  vault  as- 
tonished angels  are  contemplating  the  sun  and  moon  newly 
set  in  the  firmament.  The  attic  panel  is  painted  with  the 
Deluge  :  on  the  other  wall  is  its  pendant,  Noah's  Sacrifice. 
At  the  back  is  the  Rainbow  above  scattering  clouds. 
Farther  away,  the  Vision  of  Ezekiel  covers  a  large  expanse 
of  the  vault.  At  the  end  of  this  same  nave  on  the  vault  of 
the  iconostase  is  the  Last  Judgment. 

The  walls,  attics,  cupolas  and  vaults  of  the  other  naves 
are  also  painted  with  Biblical  subjects.  All  the  paintings 
in  St.  Isaac's  are  in  oil. 

Let  us  now  go  to  the  iconostase,  that  wall  of  holy  images 
set  in  gold  that  conceals  the  arcana  of  the  sanctuary. 
Those  who  have  seen  the  enormous  reredoses  of  the 
Spanish  churches  can  best  form  an  idea  of  the  development 
that  the  Greek  Church  gives  to  this  part  of  its  basilicas. 

The  architect  has  piled  up  his  iconostase  to  the  height  of 
the  attic,  so  that  it  combines  with  the  Order  of  the  edifice 
and  accords  with  the  colossal  proportions  of  the  monument 
the  end  of  which  it  occupies  from  wall  to  wall.  It  is  the 
facade  of  a  temple  within  a  temple. 

The  substructure  consists  of  three  steps  of  red  porphyry. 


196  ST.   ISAAC'S,  ST.   PETERSBURG 

A  balustrade  of  white  marble,  with  gilded  balusters,  in- 
crusted  with  precious  marbles,  traces  the  line  of  demarca- 
tion between  priest  and  people.  The  purest  marble  of  the 
Italian  quarries  serves  for  the  wall  of  the  iconostase.  This 
wall,  which  would  be  rich  enough  elsewhere,  is  almost  con- 
cealed by  the  most  splendid  ornamentation. 

Eight  malachite,  fluted  Corinthian  columns,  with  gilt 
bronze  bases  and  capitals,  with  two  coupled  pilasters,  com- 
pose the  facade  and  support  the  attic.  These  lovely 
columns  are  forty-two  feet  high. 

The  iconostase  is  pierced  by  three  doors  :  the  central 
opens  into  the  sanctuary,  and  the  two  others  into  the 
chapels  of  St.  Catharine  and  St.  Alexander  Nevski.  The 
Order  is  thus  distributed:  a  pilaster  at  the  angle  and  one 
column,  then  the  door  of  a  chapel ;  next,  three  columns, 
the  principal  door,  three  other  columns,  a  chapel  door,  a 
column  and  a  pilaster. 

These  columns  and  pilasters  divide  the  wall  into  spaces 
forming  frames  and  filled  with  paintings  on  a  gold  ground 
in  imitation  of  mosaic.  There  are  two  stages  of  these 
frames  separated  by  a  secondary  cornice  that  breaks  the 
columns,  and,  at  the  central  door,  rests  on  two  small 
columns  of  lapis  lazuli,  and,  at  the  chapel  doors,  on  pilasters 
of  white  statuary  marble. 

Above  is  an  attic  cut  with  pilasters,  incrusted  with 
porphyry,  jasper,  agate,  malachite,  and  other  indigenous 
precious  material,  with  gilt  bronze  ornaments  of  a  richness 
and  splendour  surpassed  by  no  Italian  or  Spanish  reredos. 
The  pilasters  even  with  the  columns  also  form  compart- 
ments filled  with  paintings  on  a  gold  ground. 

A  fourth  stage,  like  a  pediment,  rises  above  the  attic  line 
and  ends  in  a  great  golden  group  of  angels  in  adoration  at 


ST.  ISAAC'S,  ST.   PETERSBURG  I97 

the  foot  of  the  Cross.  In  the  centre  of  the  panel  a  picture 
represents  Christ  in  the  Garden  of  Olives. 

Immediately  underneath  is  a  picture  of  angels  and  the 
Last  Supper,  half  in  painting  and  half  in  bas-relief.  The 
personages  are  painted  and  the  golden  ground  of  the  room 
in  which  the  supper  was  held  is  skilfully  modelled. 

On  the  arch  of  the  door  which  is  decorated  with  a  semi- 
circular inscription  in  Slavic  characters  is  a  group  of  Christ, 
the  Priest  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec,  with  angels  be- 
hind his  throne.  Lying  at  his  feet  are  the  winged  lion  and 
the  symbolical  ox.  The  Virgin  kneels  on  the  right ;  and 
St.  John  the  Baptist  on  the  left.  This  group  is  also  partly 
painted  and  partly  modelled. 

The  arcades  of  the  lateral  nave  have  their  tops  orna- 
mented with  the  tables  of  the  law,  and  a  chalice  of  marble 
and  gold,  and  two  little  angels  painted. 

When  the  sacred  door,  which  occupies  the  centre  of  this 
immense  facade  of  gold,  silver,  lapis-lazuli,  malachite,  jas- 
per, porphyry  and  agate — this  prodigious  casket  of  all  the 
riches  that  human  magnificence  can  collect  when  no  ex- 
pense is  spared — mysteriously  folds  its  leaves  of  chiselled, 
punched  and  guilloched  silver-gilt  which  measure  thirty- 
five  feet  in  height  and  fourteen  feet  in  breadth  we  see 
through  the  dazzle  in  foliage  frames,  the  most  marvellous 
that  ever  surrounded  brush  work,  paintings  representing 
busts  of  the  Four  Evangelists,  and  full  length  figures  of  the 
angel  Gabriel  and  the  Virgin  Mary. 

But  when  in  religious  ceremonies  the  sacred  door  opens 
its  wide  leaves,  a  colossal  Christ,  forming  the  glass  work  of 
a  window  at  the  back  of  the  sanctuary,  appears  in  gold  and 
purple  raising  his  right  hand  in  blessing  with  an  attitude  in 
which  modern  knowledge  has  succeeded  in  allying  itself  with 


198  ST.   ISAAC'S,  ST.  PETERSBURG 

the  majestic  Byzantine  tradition.  The  mysterious  obscurity 
that  reigns  at  certain  hours  in  the  church  further  enhances 
the  splendour  and  transparence  of  this  magnificent  win- 
dow. 

There  remains  the  Holy  of  Holies,  shielded  from  the 
gaze  of  the  faithful  by  the  veil  of  gold,  malachite,  lapis-laz- 
uli  and  agate  of  the  iconostase.  People  rarely  penetrate 
into  the  mysterious  and  sacred  place  where  the  secret  rites 
of  the  Greek  worship  are  celebrated.  It  is  a  kind  of  hall, 
or  choir,  illumined  by  the  window  wherein  gleams  the  gi- 
gantic Christ.  The  north  and  south  walls  are  covered  with 
pictures.  Above  the  altar  is  Christ  Blessing  the  Alms. 
The  ceiling  and  attic  story  are  also  covered  with  devotional 
pictures. 

The  altar,  of  white  statuary  marble,  is  of  the  noblest  sim- 
plicity. The  tabernacle  consists  of  a  model  of  St.  Isaac's 
church  in  silver-gilt,  of  considerable  weight.  It  presents 
several  details  not  found  in  the  real  edifice. 


NOYON  CATHEDRAL 

EUGfeNE  LEFEVRE-PONTALIS 

THE  Cathedral  of  Noyon,  preceded  by  four  other  build- 
ings of  the  Sixth,  Seventh,  Tenth  and  Eleventh  Cen- 
turies, has  survived  for  eight  centuries  despite  two  terrible 
fires  and  numerous  sieges  of  the  town.  The  choir  was  com- 
menced about  1 135  and  finished  about  1 160;  the  transept  and 
the  two  last  bays  of  the  nave  must  have  been  completed  when 
the  Bishop  Baudouin  III.  died  in  1174.  The  nave  was 
built  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  Twelfth  Century  5  but  the 
bays  under  the  large  towers,  the  porch  and  the  southern 
tower  are  not  earlier  than  the  beginning  of  the  Thirteenth 
Century,  while  the  upper  story  of  the  northern  tower  is  a 
work  of  the  Fourteenth  Century.  Burned  in  1293  and  in 
1 3 16  and  repaired  after  these  disasters,  this  beautiful  Cathe- 
dral was  flanked  by  side  chapels  in  the  Fourteenth  Century, 
in  1528  and  in  1643.  Other  masonry  work  was  done  in 
the  Cathedral  from  1459  to  1462,  in  1476,  from  1722  to 
1729,  from  1747  to  1 75 1,  from  1843  ^°  1845,  from  1851 
to  1854,  in  1859,  i"  1862,  in  1869-1870,  from  1874  to 
1876,  in  1899  and  in  1900. 

The  transept  of  the  Cathedral  of  Noyon  has  been  subject 
to  important  restorations  which  have  altered  its  original  char- 
acter. All  the  pointed  arches  were  made  again  in  the  Four- 
teenth and  Fifteenth  Centuries  and  many  of  the  capitals 
damaged  by  the  fire  of  1293  were  restored  towards  the  end 
of  the  Thirteenth  Century ;  but  you  can  still  see  the  leaves 


200  NOYON  CATHEDRAL 

of  the  arum  curved  into  balls  and  acanthus  leaves  on  several 
of  the  drums.  The  style  of  the  Porte  Saint  Eutrope,  the 
great  arch  of  which  is  headed  by  a  massive  gable,  proves 
that  the  south  transept  is  a  little  older  than  the  north. 

Inside,  the  transept  contains  arches  and  bases  similar  to 
those  of  adjoining  chapels,  tierce-point  and  circular  vi'in- 
dows  like  those  in  the  apse ;  but  the  architect  substituted 
for  the  trefoiled  arching  above  the  choir-stalls,  which 
stopped  at  the  transept  entrances,  a  regular  open  gallery 
formed  of  little  arcades  with  circular  arches. 

The  south  transept  of  the  Cathedral  of  Soissons,  begun 
towards  1180  and  built  perhaps  by  the  same  architect  as  the 
apse  of  Saint-Remi  of  Reims,  bears  the  marks  of  a  much 
more  advanced  style.  We  must  conclude,  therefore,  that 
the  transept  of  Notre-Dame  de  Noyon  was  finished  about 
1 1 70. 

Work  upon  the  nave  of  Notre-Dame  of  Noyon  was  in- 
terrupted towards  11 70  after  the  completion  of  the  two  bays 
alreadv  mentioned.  When  the  masons  returned  to  the  work 
the  style  of  the  decoration  for  the  capitals  had  changed  and 
the  heavy  flora  was  replaced  by  crockets  that  resemble  a 
plantain  leaf.  You  can  see  exactly  the  same  crockets  on 
the  capitals  of  the  transept  in  the  Cathedral  of  Soissons, 
built,  like  the  six  first  bays  of  Notre-Dame  of  Noyon,  be- 
tween 1 180  and  1 190. 

The  new  architect  continued  the  work  of  his  predecessor 
in  diminishing  the  girth  of  the  heavy  columns;  in  lowering 
the  level  of  the  bases,  the  profile  of  which  he  modified ;  and 
in  suppressing  the  rings  of  the  little  columns  ;  but  he  re- 
spected the  general  arrangement  of  the  bays  and  the  stalls 
without  breaking  the  archivolts  of  the  windows  and  the 
arches  of  the  little  gallery.     This  nave  should  be  considered 


NOYON  CATHEDRAL  201 

the  prototype  of  that  of  the  Cathedral  of  Senlis,  consecrated 
on  June  i6,  1191,  and  completely  restored  in  its  upper  part 
after  the  fire  of  1504.  The  architect  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Laon  was  also  inspired  by  the  arrangement  of  the  nave  of 
Noyon. 

In  the  Fourteenth  Century  they  celebrated  in  the  Cathe- 
dral two  burlesque  ceremonies  whose  origin  was  much  more 
ancient.  The  first,  which  took  place  on  Dec.  28,  was 
called  the  Feast  of  Innocents.  A  bishop  chosen  by  the 
choir-boys  from  their  own  ranks,  or  among  the  canons,  held 
the  office  for  a  day  and  gave  his  benediction  to  the  faithful. 
The  choir-boys  sat  in  the  stalls  and  the  priests  took  their 
places.  When  this  Feast  became  a  scandal,  the  Chapter  tried 
to  suppress  it ;  but  in  vain,  for  it  was  regularly  celebrated  un- 
til 1625.  The  Feast  of  Fools,  which  took  place  on  Jan.  5, 
was  characterized  by  the  election  of  a  king,  who  with  his 
companions  gave  himself  up  to  veritable  buffoonery  in  the 
choir  of  the  Cathedral.  Then  mounting  his  horse  before 
the  steps  of  the  great  entrance,  he  rode  through  the  town 
and  the  suburbs.  Forbidden  in  1419  and  reestablished 
shortly  afterwards,  this  festival  was  suppressed  in  1721; 
but  the  Chapter  had  little  by  little  curtailed  the  privileges 
of  the  king  from  the  Sixteenth  Centur)'. 

In  1757  the  ancient  choir-stalls  were  replaced  by  those 
now  in  the  sanctuary.  The  screen  with  which  the  choir 
was  enclosed  was  erected  at  the  same  period  and  the  chapter 
gave  orders  to  demolish  the  jube^  which  must  have  dated 
from  the  Thirteenth  or  Fourteenth  Century,  because  the 
painter,  Etienne  Gourdin,  was  ordered  to  clean  it  in  1460. 
The  Gothic  altar  also  disappeared,  for  the  carpenter 
Courtois  made  the  model  of  a  wooden  altar  a  la  Romaine 
surmounted  by  a  palm  tree  which  shadowed  the  tabernacle. 


202  NOYON  CATHEDRAL 

At  the  same  time  they  had  the  unhappy  idea  of  closing  up 
the  lower  windows  of  the  transepts  in  order  to  make  niches 
for  the  reception  of  statues.  All  this  work  was  finished  by 
May  19,  1757. 

During  the  Revolution  the  Cathedral  was  despoiled  of  its 
treasure  and  its  clocks,  and  the  sculpture  of  its  porches 
suffered  mutilation.  The  inventories  of  the  treasure,  dated 
Feb.  25,  1790,  mention  seventeen  reliquaries  in  silver,  or 
silver-gilt,  already  described  in  the  inventory  of  1783, 
which  contains  more  precise  details  of  their  form.  The 
Cathedral  still  possesses  eight  pieces  of  tapestry  represent- 
ing the  scenes  of  the  Deluge  and  the  story  of  Noah, 
the  beautiful  dais  given  in  1755  by  the  monk,  Montain, 
and  a  number  of  embroidered  garments,  which,  generally 
speaking,  comprise  six  copes,  a  chasuble,  two  tunics,  two 
stoles  and  three  maniples. 

The  municipality  decided  on  Oct.  28,  1793,  that  the 
statues  of  the  porches  should  be  broken ;  and  all  the 
sculpture  of  the  tympanums  and  of  the  sub-bases  were 
mutilated.  This  act  of  vandalism  was  executed  the  fol- 
lowing day  at  the  expense  of  the  town.  The  workmen 
threw  some  fragments  of  the  sculpture  into  a  vault  which 
they  found  under  the  north  tower  and  from  which  two 
large  pieces  of  the  statue  of  a  bishop  of  the  Thirteenth 
Century  were  recovered  in  1856.  At  the  moment  when 
a  mason  was  about  to  smash  the  high  altar,  Andre  Dumont, 
deputy  to  the  Convention,  who  was  passing  through  Noyon, 
observed  that  its  carvings  were  in  a  sense  mythological  and 
saved  this  work  of  art  from  the  Revolutionary  hammer. 
The  first  Festival  of  the  Goddess  Reason  was  celebrated 
in  the  Cathedral  on  Nov.  20,  1793. 

After  all  these  mutilations  the  nave  and  the  lower  part 


NOYON  CATHEDRAL  203 

of  the  Cathedral  were  transformed  into  a  stable  in  Febru- 
ary, 1794,  and  here  about  eight  hundred  horses  were  stalled. 
The  transept  was  converted  into  a  storehouse  for  fodder, 
and  the  choir  became  a  dancing-hall  where  the  citoyem  had 
a  reunion  every  decade. 

The  history  of  the  Cathedral  in  the  Nineteenth  Century 
may  be  divided  into  two  periods.  During  the  first,  which 
ended  in  the  year  1842,  the  fabric  tried  to  regain  its  furni- 
ture and  to  repair  the  damages  caused  by  the  Revolution ; 
in  the  second  period,  which  began  in  1843,  ^^  restoration 
of  the  Cathedral  was  begun,  which  has  continued  to  the 
present  day. 

The  windows  which  had  greatly  suffered  were  repaired 
by  Vantigny  du  Valois  from  1805  to  1807  and  in  181 1. 

Napolean  I.  and  Marie-Louise  visited  the  Cathedral  in 
18 10,  after  having  been  received  by  the  clergy  on  the 
place  du  parvis.  The  solemn  reception  of  the  Duchesse  de 
Berry  in  the  Cathedral  took  place  on  May  21,  1821. 


ST.  PAUL'S,  LONDON 

•^  DEAN  MILMAN 

WHAT  building  in  its  exterior  form  does  not  bow  its 
head  before  St.  Paul's  ?  What  eye,  trained  to  all 
that  is  perfect  in  architecture,  does  not  recognize  the  in- 
imitable beauty  of  its  lines,  the  majestic  yet  airy  swelling 
of  its  dome,  its  rich  harmonious  ornamentation  ?  It  is 
singular,  too,  that  St.  Paul's,  which,  by  its  grandeur,  of  old 
asserted  its"  uncontested  dignity,  as  a  crown  and  glory  of 
London,  now  that  it  is  invaded  far  and  near,  by  huge  tall 
fabrics,  railway  termini,  manufactories  and  magazines,  with 
immense  chimneys,  still  appears  at  a  distance  with  a  grace 
which  absolutely  fascinates  thp  eye,  the  more  exquisite 
from  the  shapelessness  of  all  around,  and  of  all  within  a 
wide  range  -about  it.  Mr.  Fergusson,  though  sternly  im- 
partial and  impatient  of  some  defects  which  strike  his 
fastidious  judgment,  wrote :  "  It  will  hardly  be  disputed 
that  the  exterior  of  St.  Paul's  surpasses  in  beauty  of  design 
all  the  other  examples  of  the  same  class  which  have  yet 
been  carried  out ;  and  whether  seen  from  a  distance  or 
near,  it  is  externally,  at  least,  one  of  the  grandest  and  most 
beautiful  churches  in  Europe."  But  with  the  matchless 
exterior  ceases  the  superiority,  and  likewise,  to  a  great  de- 
gree, the  responsibility  of  Wren.  His  designs  for  the  in- 
terior were  not  only  not  carried  out,  but  he  was  in  every 
way  thwarted,  controlled,  baffled  in  his  old  age,  to  the 
eternal  disgrace  of  all  concerned ;  the  victim  of  the  pitiful 


ST.    PAUL'S,   LONDON 


ST.  PAUL'S,  LONDON  20,5 

jealousy  of  some,  the  ignorance  of  others,  the  ingratitude 
of  all. 

The  architect,  himself,  had  the  honour  of  laying  the  first 
stone  (June  2i,  1675).  There  was  no  solemn  ceremonial ; 
neither  the  King,  nor  any  of  the  Court,  nor  the  Primate, 
nor  the  Bishop  (Henchman  died  in  the  course  of  that  year), 
nor  even,  it  should  seem,  was  Dean  Bancroft,  or  the  Lord 
Mayor  present. 

A  curious  incident,  however,  not  long  afterwards  occurred, 
which  was  taken  notice  of  by  some  people  as  a  memorable 
omen.  When  the  surveyor  in  person  had  set  out  upon  the 
place  the  dimensions  of  the  great  dome,  a  common  labourer 
was  ordered  to  bring  a  flat  stone  from  the  heaps  of  rubbish 
(such  as  should  first  come  to  hand)  to  be  laid  for  a  mark  and 
direction  to  the  masons;  the  stone  which  he  immediately 
brought  and  laid  down  for  the  purpose  happened  to  be  a 
piece  of  a  gravestone,  with  nothing  remaining  of  the  inscrip- 
tion but  this  single  word  in  large  capitals,  Resurgam. 

The  removal  of  the  ruins  of  the  old  Cathedral  was  a  long 
and  difficult  process.  Obstinate  old  St.  Paul's  would  not 
surrender  possession  of  the  ground  which  it  had  occupied 
for  so  many  centuries.  The  work  had  to  be  done  by  hard 
manual  labour.  Wren  tried  the  novel  experiment  of  blowing 
up  the  tower,  the  firmest  part,  with  gun-powder;  but  the 
alarm  caused  by  the  first  explosion,  at  the  second,  a  fatal 
accident — the  loss  of  life  by  the  mismanagement  of  the  per- 
sons employed — threw  him  back  on  more  tedious  tools,  the 
pickaxe  and  shovel,  with  which  he  beat  down  the  more 
solid  walls. 

The  foundation  determined  and  laid,  St.  Paul's  began  to 
rise  and  continued  to  rise,  without  check  or  interruption. 
The  coal  duty,  on  every  change  of  sovereign  or  dynasty  and 


206  ST.   PAUL'S,  LONDON 

Parliament,  was  continued  and  was  paid,  it  would  seem,  with- 
out murmur  or  difficulty.  The  quarries  of  Portland  sup- 
plied their  excellent  stone  in  abundance.  Wren  might 
seem  as  if  he  ruled  over  the  vassal  island  ;  roads  were  made 
to  convey  the  stone  with  the  greatest  facility  to  the  port. 
An  admirable  and  obedient  regiment  of  masons  and  work- 
men was  organized.  Strong,  his  master-mason,  assisted  in 
laving  the  first  stone,  June  21,  1675,  and  in  fixing  the  last 
in  the  lantern.  St.  Paul's  arose  and  the  architect  pursued 
his  work  undisturbed  by  the  great  political  changes  which 
gave  a  new  line  of  kings  to  the  throne  of  England  and  per- 
fected our  constitution.  On  Dec.  2,  1697,  twenty-two 
years  after  the  laying  of  the  first  stone,  the  Cathedral  of 
St.  Paul  was  opened  for  Divine  service.  It  was  a  great 
national  pomp  to  commemorate  an  event  of  the  highest 
national  importance,  the  thanksgiving  day  for  the  Peace  of 
Ryswick.  Since  that  time  the  services  have  gone  on  unin- 
terruptedly in  Wren's  St.  Paul's. 

In  1 7 10  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  by  the  hands  of  his  son, 
attended  by  Mr.  Strong,  the  master-mason  who  had  executed 
the  whole  work,  and  the  body  of  Freemasons,  of  which  Sir 
Christopher  was  an  active  member,  laid  the  last  and  highest 
stone  of  the  lantern  of  the  cupola,  with  humble  prayers  for 
the  Divine  blessing  on  his  work. 

If  ever  there  was  an  occasion  on  which  the  heart  of  man 
might  swell  with  pardonable  pride,  it  was  the  heart  of  Wren 
at  that  hour,  whether  he  himself  was  actually  at  the  giddy 
summit  of  the  building,  or  watched  his  son's  act  from  be- 
low. The  architect  looked  down,  or  looked  up  and  around, 
on  this  great  and  matchless  building,  the  creation  of  his  own 
mind,  the  achievement  of  his  sole  care  and  skill ;  the  whole 
building  stretching  out  in  all  its  perfect  harmony  with  its 


ST.   PAUL'S,  LONDON  207 

fine  horizontal  lines,  various  yet  in  perfect  unison,  its 
towers,  its  unrivalled  dome,  its  crowning  lantern  and  cross. 
All  London  had  poured  forth  for  the  spectacle,  which  had 
been  publicly  announced,  and  were  looking  up  in  wonder 
to  the  old  man,  or  his  son,  if  not  the  old  man  himself,  who 
was,  on  that  wondrous  height,  setting  the  seal,  as  it  were,  to 
his  august  labours. 

The  form  of  St.  Paul's  is  that  of  the  long  or  Latin  cross. 
Its  extreme  length,  including  the  porch,  is  500  feet ;  the 
greatest  breadth,  that  is  to  say  across  the  transept  but 
within  the  doors  of  the  porticoes,  250  feet ;  the  width  of 
the  nave,  118  feet.  There  are,  however,  at  the  foot  or 
western  end  of  the  cross,  projections  northward  and  south- 
ward, which  make  the  breadth  190  feet.  One  of  these, 
that,  namely,  on  the  north  side,  is  used  as  a  morning  chapel, 
and  the  other,  on  the  south  side,  contains  the  Wellington 
Monument,  but  was  formerly  used  as  the  Consistory  Court. 
At  the  internal  angle  of  the  cross  are  small  square  bastion- 
like adjuncts,  whose  real  use  is  to  strengthen  the  piers  of 
the  dome  ;  but  they  are  inwardly  serviceable  as  vestries  and 
a  staircase.  The  height  of  the  Cathedral  on  the  south  side 
to  the  top  of  the  cross  is  365  feet. 

The  exterior  consists  throughout  of  two  orders,  the  lower 
being  Corinthian,  the  upper  composite.  It  is  built  externally 
in  two  stories,  in  both  of  which,  except  at  the  north  and 
south  porticoes  and  at  the  west  front,  the  whole  of  the 
entablatures  rest  on  coupled  pilasters,  between  which  in  the 
lower  order  a  range  of  circular-headed  windows  is  introduced. 
But  in  the  order  above,  the  corresponding  spaces  are  oc- 
cupied by  dressed  niches  standing  on  pedestals  pierced  with 
openings  to  light  the  passages  in  the  roof  over  the  side  aisles. 
The  upper  order  is  nothing  but  a  screen  to  hide  the  flying- 


208  ST.   PAUL'S,   LONDON 

buttresses  carried  across  from  the  outer  walls  to  resist  the 
thrust  of  the  great  vaulting.  The  west  front  has  a  magnif- 
icent portico,  divided,  like  the  rest  of  the  building,  into  two 
stories.  The  lower  consists  of  twelve  coupled  and  fluted 
columns,  that  above  has  only  eight,  which  bear  an  entabla- 
ture and  pediment  of  which  the  tympanum  is  sculptured  in 
bas-relief,  representing  the  conversion  of  St.  Paul.  On  the 
apex  of  the  pediment  is  a  figure  of  the  Saint  himself,  and  at 
its  extremities  on  the  right  and  left  of  St.  Paul  are  figures  of 
St.  Peter  and  St.  James.  The  transepts  are  terminated  up- 
wards by  pediments,  over  coupled  pilasters  at  the  quoins, 
and  two  single  pilasters  in  the  intermediate  space.  On  each 
side  of  the  western  portico  a  square  pedestal  rises  over  the 
upper  order,  and  on  each  pedestal  a  steeple,  or  campanile 
tower,  supported  upon  triangular  groups  of  Corinthian 
columns  finishing  in  small  domes,  formed  by  curves  of  con- 
trary flexure  very  like  bells.  Lower  down,  in  front  of  these 
campaniles,  the  Four  Evangelists  are  represented  with  their 
emblems.  In  the  face  of  the  southern  campanile  a  clock  is 
inserted.  A  flight  of  steps,  extending  the  whole  length  of 
the  portico,  forms  the  basement.  In  the  southwest  tower  is 
the  Great  Bell  of  St.  Paul's,  cast  in  1709  by  Richard  Phelps 
and  Langley  Bradley.  It  is  ten  feet  in  diameter,  ten  inches 
thick  in  metal  and  weighs  11,474  pounds. 

On  the  north  side  is  a  semicircular  portico,  consisting  of 
six  Corinthian  columns,  forty-eight  inches  in  diameter,  rest- 
ing on  a  circular  flight  of  twelve  steps  of  black  marble  and 
finishing  in  a  semi-dome.  Above  is  a  pediment  resting  on 
pilasters  in  the  wall,  on  the  face  of  which  are  the  Royal 
Arms,  supported  by  angels  with  palm  branches,  and  under 
their  feet  the  lion  and  the  unicorn,  the  statues  of  five  of  the 
Apostles  being  placed  at  the  top  at  proper  distances. 


ST.  PAUL'S,  LONDON  209 

The  south  portico  answers  to  the  north,  except  that  on 
account  of  the  lowness  of  the  ground  on  that  side  of  the 
church,  it  is  entered  by  a  flight  of  twenty-five  steps.  In  the 
pediment  above  is  represented  a  Phoenix  rising  from  the 
flames.  On  the  top  of  the  pediment  are  five  other  figures  of 
Apostles.  The  choir  terminates  eastward  in  a  shallow  semi- 
circular apse.  Under  the  lower  principal  window,  beneath  a 
crown,  and  surrounded  by  the  Garter,  is  the  cypher  of  King 
William  and  Queen  Mary. 

The  dome,  which  is  by  far  the  most  magnificent  and  ele- 
gant feature  in  the  building,  rises  from  the  body  of  the 
church  in  great  majesty.  It  is  145  feet  in  outward  and 
108  feet  in  inward  diameter.  Twenty  feet  above  the  roof 
of  the  church  is  a  circular  range  of  twenty-two  columns, 
every  fourth  intercolumniation  being  filled  with  masonry, 
so  disposed  as  to  form  an  ornamental  niche  or  recess,  by 
which  arrangement  the  projecting  buttresses  of  the  cupola 
are  concealed.  These,  which  form  a  peristyle  of  the  com- 
posite order  with  an  unbroken  entablature,  enclose  the  in- 
terior order.  They  support  a  handsome  gallery  adorned 
with  a  balustrade.  Above  these  columns  is  a  range  of  pi- 
lasters, with  windows  between  them,  forming  an  attic  order, 
and  on  these  the  great  dome  stands.  The  general  idea  of 
the  cupola,  as  appears  from  the  Parentalia^  was  taken  from 
the  Pantheon  at  Rome.  On  the  summit  of  the  dome, 
which  is  covered  with  lead,  is  a  gilt  circular  balcony,  and 
from  its  centre  rises  the  lantern,  adorned  with  Corinthian 
columns.     The  whole  is  terminated  by  a  gilt  ball  and  cross. 

On  ascending  the  steps  at  the  west  end  of  the  church, 
we  find  three  doors,  ornamented  at  the  top  with  bas-reliefs ; 
that  over  the  middle  door  representing  St.  Paul  preaching 
to  the  Bereans.     The  interior  of  the  nave  is  formed  by  an 


2IO  ST.   PAUL'S,  LONDON 

arcade  resting  on  massive  pillars,  and  dividing  the  church 
into  a  body  and  two  aisles.  The  eastern  piers  of  the  nave 
serve  at  the  same  time  for  the  support  of  the  cupola.  They 
are  wider  than  the  other  piers,  and  are  flanked  by  pilasters 
at  their  angles  and  have  shallow  oblong  recesses  in  the  in- 
tercolumniations.  The  roof  over  these  piers  is  a  boldly 
coffered  waggon  vault,  which  contrasts  very  effectively  with 
the  rest  of  the  vaulting. 

The  nave  is  separated  from  the  choir  by  the  area  over 
which  the  cupola  rises.  From  the  centre  of  this  area,  the 
transepts,  or  traverse  of  the  cross,  diverge  to  the  north  and 
south,  each  extending  one  severy,  or  arch,  in  length.  The 
choir,  which  is  vaulted  and  domed  over,  like  the  nave  and 
transepts,  from  the  top  of  the  attic  order,  is  terminated  east- 
ward by  a  semicircular  tribune,  of  which  the  diameter  is, 
in  general  terms,  the  same  as  the  width  of  the  choir  itself. 
The  western  end  of  the  choir  has  pillars  similar  to  those  at 
the  eastern  end  of  the  nave,  uniform  with  which  there  are 
at  its  eastern  end  piers  of  the  same  extent  and  form,  except 
that  they  are  pierced  for  a  communication  with  the  side 
aisles.  Above  the  entablature  and  under  the  cupola  is  the 
Whispering  Gallery,  and  in  the  concave  above  are  represen- 
tations of  the  principal  passages  of  St.  Paul's  life  in  eight 
compartments,  painted  by  Sir  James  Thornhill. 

The  dome  is  pierced  with  an  eye  in  its  vertex,  through 
which  a  vista  opens  to  the  small  dome  in  which  the  great 
cone  terminates.  Between  the  inner  and  outer  dome  are 
stairs  which  ascend  to  the  lantern. 

Wren,  besides  the  interference  with  his  designs  for  the 
interior  embellishment  of  the  Cathedral,  might  look  with 
some  disappointment  on  the  incompleteness  of  his  work, 
the  temporary  windows,  mean  and  incongruous,  which  re- 


ST.   PAUL'S,  LONDON  211 

mained,  and  in  many  parts  still  remain  in  our  own  day  ; 
the  cold,  unadorned  east  end,  for  which  he  had  designed  a 
splendid  Baldachin,  and  in  general  the  nakedness  of  the 
walls,  which  he  had  intended  to  relieve,  perhaps  with 
marbles,  certainly  with  rich  mosaics. 

But  even  in  the  interior  there  was  some  consolation, 
some  pride  in  the  partial  fulfillment  of  his  designs.  The 
exquisite  carvings  of  Grinling  Gibbons  in  the  stall-work 
of  the  choir  were  not  merely  in  themselves  admirable,  but 
in  perfect  harmony  with  the  character  of  the  architecture. 
They  rivalled,  if  they  did  not  surpass,  all  Mediaeval  works 
of  their  class  in  grace,  variety,  richness ;  they  kept  up  an 
inimitable  unison  of  the  lines  of  the  building  and  the  dec- 
oration. In  the  words  of  Walpole  "there  is  no  instance 
of  a  man  before  Gibbons  who  gave  to  wood  the  loose  and 
airy  lightness  of  flowers  and  chained  together  the  various 
productions  of  the  elements  with  a  fine  disorder  natural  to 
each  species." 

The  naked  walls,  the  arcades,  the  recesses  of  St.  Paul's 
might  seem  to  have  been  designed,  and  were  intended  by 
the  architect  for  the  reception  of  monuments,  but  there  was 
a  prejudice  against  them  which  long  remained  invincible, 
and  it  was  not  until  the  year  1796  that  the  first  monument 
was  in  fact  erected. 

The  first  statue  admitted  at  St.  Paul's  was  not  that  of  a 
statesman,  a  warrior,  or  even  of  a  sovereign ;  it  was  that  of 
John  Howard,  the  pilgrim  ;  not  to  gorgeous  shrines  of  saints 
and  martyrs,  not  even  to  holy  lands,  but  to  the  loathsome 
depths  and  darkness  of  the  prisons  throughout  what  called 
itself  the  civilized  world.  The  second  statue,  at  the  earnest 
entreaty  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  was  that  of  Samuel  John- 
son.    Though  Johnson  was  buried  in  the  Abbey  among  his 


212  ST.  PAUL'S,   LONDON 

brother  men  of  letters,  yet  there  was  a  singular  propriety  in 
the  erection  of  Johnson's  statue  in  St.  Paul's.  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds  took  the  third  place.  The  fourth  was  adjudged 
to  that  remarkable  man  Sir  W.  Jones,  the  first  who  opened 
the  treasures  of  Oriental  learning,  the  poetry  and  wisdom 
of  our  Indian  Empire  to  wondering  Europe. 

At  the  angle  of  the  south  transept  against  the  east  face 
of  the  great  pier  supporting  the  dome  is  the  monument  of 
Admiral  Lord  Nelson,  which  formerly  stood  at  the  entrance 
to  the  choir.  The  funeral  of  Nelson  was  a  signal  day  in 
the  annals  of  St.  Paul's.  When  Wellington,  full  of  years, 
descended  to  the  grave,  the  first  thought  was  that  he  should 
repose  by  the  side  of  Nelson.  But  this  was  found  impos- 
sible. But  to  the  east,  the  place  of  honour,  there  was  in 
the  crypt  what  may  be  described  as  a  second  chapel.  Nel- 
son was  left  in  undisputed  possession  of  his  own  ;  the  second 
chapel  was  devoted  to  Wellington.  His  sarcophagus  is  a 
mass  of  Cornish  porphyry,  wrought  in  the  simplest  and 
severest  style,  unadorned,  and,  because  unadorned,  more 
grand  and  impressive.  It  was  long  the  only  memorial  of 
Wellington  at  St.  Paul's,  for  his  monument  was  not  com- 
pleted until  more  than  twenty-five  years  after  his  funeral, 
and  not  till  after  the  death  of  the  eminent  sculptor  by  whom 
it  had  been  designed. 

At  the  extreme  east,  in  the  south  aisle,  repose  the  mortal 
remains  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren.  At  the  feet  of  Wren 
repose  a  long  line  of  artists  who  have  done  honour  to  Eng- 
land. On  May  3,  1793,  with  an  almost  royal  procession 
of  nearly  a  hundred  carriages,  the  body  of  Sir  Joshua  Rey- 
nolds was  conveyed  to  the  Cathedral.  Here  too  rests 
J.  W.  M.  Turner.  It  was  Turner's  dying  request  that  he 
might  repose  as  near  as  possible  to  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 


ST.  PAUL'S,   LONDON  213 

It  remains  only  to  mention  the  library,  a  large  room  over 
the  Wellington  Chapel,  of  which  the  door  is  in  the  gallery 
above  the  south  isle,  and  to  which  access  can  also  be  ob- 
tained by  the  so-called  geometrical  staircase,  a  flight  of 
steps  ingeniously  constructed  and  appearing  to  hang  to- 
gether without  any  visible  support.  The  ancient  library 
of  the  Cathedral,  with  but  rare  exceptions,  perished  in  the 
Great  Fire.  The  carving  of  the  beautiful  wooden  brackets 
supporting  the  gallery,  and  of  the  stone  pilasters,  is  said  to 
be  by  Grinling  Gibbons.  The  floor  consists  of  2,300 
pieces  of  oak  inlaid  without  nails  or  pegs.  The  library 
contains  a  model  of  part  of  the  west  front  of  the  Cathedral, 
once  in  the  possession  of  Richard  Jennings,  the  master- 
builder  of  the  Cathedral. 


COLOGNE  CATHEDRAL 

ESTHER  SINGLETON 

COLOGNE,  "the  Rome  of  the  North,"  is  rich  in 
churches  and  shrines,  but  they  are  all  overshadowed 
by  the  glory  of  the  magnificent  Cathedral,  one  of  the 
noblest  examples  of  Gothic  architecture  in  existence. 
Too  magnificent,  indeed,  to  be  the  work  of  any  human 
genius,  the  following  legend  endeavours  to  account  for  it. 
One  day,  while  seated  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  the 
despairing  architect,  who  had  been  commissioned  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Cologne  to  build  a  Cathedral  that  would 
surpass  all  others,  was  approached  by  the  devil  who  showed 
him  a  superb  plan  and  asked  for  his  soul  in  payment. 
The  architect  was  unable  to  resist  the  temptation,  and  at 
midnight  came  to  sign  the  pact.  He,  however,  snatched 
the  plan  and  by  means  of  a  piece  of  the  True  Cross 
vanquished  Satan,  who  exclaimed  in  revenge:  "Your 
name  will  never  be  known  and  your  work  will  never  be 
finished." 

For  centuries  it  seemed  as  if  this  prediction  was  likely 
to  be  verified  ;  for,  although  the  corner-stone  was  laid  in 
1248,  the  Cathedral  was  not  completed  until  1880.  The 
first  part  to  be  finished  was  the  choir,  which  was  con- 
secrated in  1322.  During  the  succeeding  years,  the  work 
progressed  more  or  less  slowly.  In  1447  the  southern 
tower  had  mounted  to  the  height  of  180  feet;  but  during 
the  Reformation  work  ceased  altogether,  and  for  centuries 


COLOGNE  CATHEDRAL 


COLOGNE  CATHEDRAL  21 5 

the  splendid  edifice  was  not  even  kept  in  proper  repair. 
In  the  days  of  the  PVench  Revolution  it  was  used  as  a 
barn.  In  the  early  days  of  the  Nineteenth  Century 
popular  attention  was  directed  to  its  unrivalled  beauty,  and 
subscription  funds  were  started  to  complete  it  according  to 
the  original  design.  In  1823  restoration  was  begun.  In 
1842  the  Cathedral  Building  Society  was  organized  and 
work  progressed  rapidly.  The  nave,  aisle  and  transepts 
were  opened  in  1848;  and  the  interior  was  finished  in 
1863,  when  the  North  Portal  and  iron  spire  were  also 
finished.  In  1868  the  old  familiar  crane  disappeared,  and 
in  1880  the  towers  of  the  western  front  were  completed. 

Notwithstanding  the  long  period  of  its  building,  all  the 
additions  have  been  made  in  accordance  with  the  original 
design,  and  the  Cathedral  of  Cologne,  therefore,  presents 
a  unity  that  is  most  rare  in  examples  of  Gothic  architecture. 

The  edifice  is  in  the  form  of  a  Latin  cross  and  stands  on 
an  eminence  about  sixty  feet  above  the  Rhine  at  the  north- 
eastern angle  of  the  fortifications,  and  it  may  be  said  here 
that  the  most  striking  view  is  gained  from  the  bridge. 

The  Cologne  Cathedral  is  511  feet  long  and  231  broad, 
the  length  being  equal  to  the  height  of  the  towers  and  the 
breadth  corresponding  to  the  height  of  the  western  gable. 
The  eye  is  not  only  charmed  by  the  beauty  of  the  pro- 
portions and  the  immensity  of  the  noble  fabric,  but  en- 
raptured by  its  wealth  of  decoration.  Rows  of  massive 
flying-buttresses,  piers,  pinnacles,  spires,  needles,  crockets, 
towers,  mullioned  windows,  portals,  niches  filled  with 
figures,  carvings  and  grotesque  gargoyles  astonish  and  al- 
most stupefy  the  traveller's  gaze. 

The  interior  baffles  description,  with  its  rows  of 
columns,  noble  arches  and  wealth  of  carving  seen  in  the 


2l6  COLOGNE  CATHEDRAL 

glowing  hues  from  windows  that  sparkle  like  rubies, 
sapphires,  emeralds  and  topazes.  The  five  windows  on 
the  north  aisle  are  gifts  of  the  Archbishop  Hermann  IV. 
(1430-1508);  Archbishop  Philipp  of  Dhaun-Oberstein 
(1508-1515);  Count  Philipp  of  Virneberg  and  of  the 
City  of  Cologne  (1507  and  1509).  The  five  windows  in 
the  south  aisle  are  the  gift  of  King  Ludwig  of  Bavaria  in 
1848  and  are  the  finest  examples  of  modern  glass.  The 
six  windows  in  the  sacristy  date  from  the  Sixteenth  Century 
and  those  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Magi  from  the  Thirteenth. 
The  nave  is  no  less  than  445  feet  long  and  about  202  feet 
high,  with  five  aisles,  and  the  transepts  are  282  feet  wide 
with  three  aisles.  Seven  chapels  surround  the  choir, 
which,  with  its  slender  columns  crowned  with  flowers,  its 
ninety-six  magnificently  carved  stalls  of  the  Fourteenth 
Century  and  its  exquisite  windows,  is  the  gem  of  the 
Cathedral.  Moreover,  it  is  separated  from  the  apse  by 
fourteen  pillars,  on  which  stand  fourteen  statues  of  the 
Virgin,  Christ  and  the  Twelve  Apostles,  coloured  and  gilt, 
masterpieces  of  Fourteenth  Century  carving.  Behind 
them  hang  tapestries  worked  by  the  ladies  of  Cologne 
from  cartoons  by  the  painter,  Ramboux. 

The  angels  in  the  spandrels  between  the  gallery  and 
arches  in  fresco  by  Steinle  were  the  gift  of  King  Frederick 
William  IV. 

The  colossal  statue  of  St.  Christopher  stands  in  the  south 
transept  and  another  noteworthy  feature  is  the  folding-altar 
of  St.  Agilolphus  (1521),  a  masterpiece  of  carving.  The 
organ,  built  in  1572,  is  also  famous;  but  the  screen  dates 
only  from  1848.  The  chapel  of  St.  Michael  contains  an 
altar  with  carvings  of  the  Fifteenth  Century  ;  St.  Engelbert's 
chapel  contains  an  altar  dating  from  1683,  on  which  stands 


COLOGNE  CATHEDRAL  21 7 

a  crucifix  said  to  have  belonged  to  the  old  Cathedral 
destroyed  by  fire. 

The  tomb  of  the  founder  of  the  present  Cathedral,  Arch- 
bishop Conrad  von  Hochstaden  (i 238-1 261),  is  situated  in 
the  Chapel  of  St.  John,  where  is  also  preserved  a  drawing 
of  the  two  west  towers  found  in  an  inn  at  Darmstadt  in 
18 14.  In  the  Chapel  of  the  Virgin  hangs  a  famous 
Assumption  by  Overbeck,  and  in  that  of  St.  Agnes,  the  still 
more  celebrated  Do?nbild^  painted  in  i\2b^  by  Meister 
Stephan  Lochner,  the  crowning  work  of  the  Cologne 
School,  representing  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  and  on  the 
one  wing  St.  Ursula  and  the  11,000  Virgins  and  on  the  other 
St.  Gereon  with  the  Theban  Legion. 

The  most  famous  chapel,  however,  is  that  of  the  Magi, 
situated  immediately  behind  the  high  altar,  which  contained 
until  1864  the  relics  of  the  Three  Kings,  now  transferred  to 
the  sacristy.  The  skulls  of  the  three  Magi  are  said  to  have 
been  originally  found  by  St.  Helena  during  her  visit  to  the 
Holy  Land  and  carried  by  her  to  Constantinople.  The 
Archbishop  Eustorgio,  to  whom  Constantine  presented 
them,  carried  them  to  Milan  and  they  were  obtained  by 
Frederick  Barbarossa  when  he  invaded  Milan  in  1163  and 
by  him  presented  to  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne.  Their 
presence  in  Cologne  made  the  Cathedral  a  shrine  of  special 
sanctity. 

The  Chapel  of  the  Three  Kings  was  dedicated  in  1660 
and  is  illuminated  with  some  of  the  oldest  windows  in 
the  Cathedral,  depicting  The  Adoration  of  the  Magi  and 
various  saints  and  Old  Testament  characters. 

The  reliquary,  in  which  the  skulls  of  Gaspar,  Melchior 
and  Balthazar  repose  crowned  with  jewelled  diadems,  is  a 
superb  example  of  Twelfth   Century  workmanship.     It  is 


2l8  COLOGNE  CATHEDRAL 

of  gilded  copper  and  pure  gold,  ornamented  with  figures  of 
the  Saviour,  Virgin  and  others  and  enriched  with  more  than 
1,500  precious  stones  and  cameos,  and  surmounted  by  an 
enormous  topaz. 

The  sacristy  contains  other  treasures  and  many  splendid 
vestments,  including  the  "  Clementine  Suit,"  made  for  the 
Archbishop  Clement  Augustus  of  Bavaria,  the  embroidery  of 
which  alone  cost  62,000  thalers. 


COUTANCES  CATHEDRAL 

PAUL  JOANNE 

NOTRE  DAME  DE  COUTANCES,  situated  on  the 
summit  of  a  hill,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
Cathedrals  of  France.  It  is  as  celebrated  for  the  ardent  dis- 
cussions that  have  been  waged  regarding  its  date  as  for  the 
exceptional  beauty  of  its  style,  for  it  is  the  most  remark- 
able Gothic  building  in  Normandy.  The  actual  date  of  its 
construction  not  having  been  preserved  in  any  historical 
document,  two  theories  have  been  developed  since  1830, 
both  of  which  have  been  warmly  defended  and  have  the 
support  of  numerous  experts,  notwithstanding  the  refuta- 
tions that  have  been  made  by  A.  de  Caumont,  L.  Vitet, 
A.  de  Dion  and  A.  Saint-Paul. 

According  to  the  first  and  older  theory,  the  present 
Cathedral  is  the  one  that  was  built  by  Bishop  GeofFroy  de 
Montbray  in  1090;  according  to  the  other  theory,  the 
Cathedral  of  the  Eleventh  Century  lasted  only  until  the  last 
half  of  the  Fourteenth  Century  and  that  the  one  that  we 
see  to-day  dates  only  from  the  reigns  of  Charles  V.  and 
Charles  VI.  On  entering  the  church  you  easily  perceive 
that  the  style  of  the  Thirteenth  Century  is  here  in  all  its 
unity  and  plenitude,  and  in  a  freshness  that  the  cleverest 
imitation  of  a  century  later  was  never  able  to  attain.  In 
the  main  the  western  tower  is  still  Roman,  as  the  door,  the 
windows  and  several  vaultings  show.  These  are  the  re- 
mains of  the  edifice  constructed  by  GeofFroy  de  Montbray  j 


220  COUTANCES  CATHEDRAL 

and  by  these  you  can  see  how  different  was  the  style  of  the 
Cathedral  of  the  Eleventh  Century  from  that  of  the  present 
building.  If  you  then  pass  into  the  north  chapels  of  the 
nave,  you  will  see  that  these  chapels  are  in  a  Pointed  Style  a 
little  more  advanced  than  the  adjacent  side  aisle,  for  they 
have  been  built  later,  and,  according  to  several  contempora- 
neous inscriptions,  they  were  constructed  by  the  Archbishop 
Jean  d'  Essey  from  1251  to  1274.  Therefore  the  present 
Cathedral  was  built  a  long  time  after  the  Eleventh  Century 
and  a  little  before  1251.  It  is  probable  that  this  edifice  is 
for  the  most  part  due  to  the  long  episcopate  of  Hugues  de 
Morville  (1208-1238).  Perhaps  the  choir  was  not  entirely 
finished  when  Jean  d'  Essey  founded  his  chapels. 

The  facade  is  flanked  by  two  Roman  towers  starting 
from  the  foundation,  restored  and  raised  in  the  Thirteenth 
Century.  There  is  only  one  large  porch  in  the  centre  ;  the 
little  side  doors  only  lead  to  the  lower  story  of  the  towers. 
These  about  seventy-seven  or  seventy-eight  metres  in 
height  are  crowned  by  magnificent  towers  slightly  different 
in  their  details  and  restored  many  times  in  their  original 
style.  Two  other  lateral  doors  open  into  the  transept  of 
the  nave  which  leads  from  the  towers.  That  of  the  south 
— the  usual  entrance  to  the  Cathedral — was  skilfully  restored 
in  the  Seventeenth  Century  by  Claude  Auvey,  who  before 
becoming  Bishop  of  Coutances,  was  the  famous  singer  of 
La  Sainte-Chapelle,  whom  Boileau  took  for  the  hero  of  his 
Lutin.  The  porches  have  very  {zw  statues  and  bas-reliefs ; 
the  sculpture  of  the  whole  edifice  is  above  all  else  decora- 
tive and,  moreover,  charming  in  both  composition  and 
execution.  Lobed  and  floral  ornaments  in  great  variety  are 
the  principal  motives.  Unfortunately  on  the  outside  the 
apse   is  hidden  by  the  Bishop's  garden  j  and  consequently  it 


COUTANCES  CATHEDRAL  221 

is  difficult  to  admire  from  close  range  the  harmonious  pro- 
portions. 

Above  the  transept,  there  rises  an  enormous  octagonal 
tower,  called  le  Plomb^  and  you  can  ascend  the  cupola  which 
it  covers  to  appreciate  the  interior  of  the  Cathedral,  and,  on 
the  terrace  that  it  surmounts,  to  enjoy  the  panorama  that  un- 
folds from  its  summit.  It  is  flanked  by  turrets  on  the  four 
diagonal  sides.  This  dome  (fifty-seven  metres  wide  and 
forty-five  high),  forming  in  the  interior  a  magnificent  lan- 
tern, is  composed  of  two  stories  with  a  gallery  similar  to  atri- 
forium.  On  the  exterior  the  flying-buttresses  that  orna- 
ment this  tower  are,  like  its  walls,  ornamented  with  crockets 
that  are  formed   like  full  blown  flowers. 

The  inter-or.  Mincty-five  metres  lona  and  twenty-eight 
high,  is  in  the  ordinary  form  of  a  Gothic  cathedral.  How- 
ever, the  choir  has  no  triforium. 


GLASGOW   CATHEDRAL 

JOHN    HONEYMAN 

ALTHOUGH  Glasgow  Cathedral  is  one  of  the  small- 
est, it  is  by  no  means  the  least  interesting  of  British 
cathedrals.  Like  every  other  it  requires  to  be  very  carefully 
examined  before  it  is  understood  :  indeed  I  know  no  other 
so  likely  to  lead  a  hasty  observer  to  false  conclusions.  The 
history  of  the  building  can  only  be  read  in  its  architecture, 
for  unfortunately  the  early  records  of  the  See  have  been  lost, 
and  we  have  no  reliable  information  on  the  subject  earlier 
than  the  Fifteenth  Century. 

As  we  have  not  even  a  fragment  in  situ  of  older  date  than 
1 1 80,  we  must  begin  our  history  there.  That  fragment, 
which  is  situated  at  the  southwest  corner  of  the  present 
crypt,  seems  to  indicate  that  the  church  built  about  that 
period  had  a  crypt.  Crypts  were  at  that  time  fashionable, 
and  here  the  configuration  of  the  ground  naturally  suggested 
one.  We  know  nothing  more  of  this  Twelfth  Century 
church  ;  but  it  seems  probable  that  it  had  no  nave,  as  we 
find  that  very  early  in  the  Thirteenth  Century  a  nave  was 
designed  and  partly  built,  as  it  still  stands. 

Towards  the  middle  of  the  Thirteenth  Century  (not  I 
think  before  1240)  the  crypt  and  choir  were  erected.  It 
seems  quite  evident  that  from  the  commencement  of  this 
great  work  operations  on  the  nave  were  entirely  suspended, 
but  that  the  transept  at  least  was  completed  about  the  same 


GLASGOW  CATHEDRAL  223 

time  as  the  choir.  The  work  was  thereafter  carried  on 
westward  slowly  but  steadily  till  the  nave  was  finished,  about 
forty  or  fifty  years  after  the  choir.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
the  base  of  the  choir  is  entirely  different  from  that  of  the 
nave.  The  same  base  is  carried  round  the  chapter-house, 
which  was  probably  founded  at  the  same  time  j  but  the 
chapter-house  above  the  level  of  the  base  was  not  built  till 
after  the  completion  of  the  nave,  probably  about  1425-35. 
It  was  left  down  like  the  nave,  so  that  nothing  might  inter- 
fere with  the  completion  of  the  choir. 

Any  one  unfamiliar  with  the  later  Scotch  styles,  and  who 
did  not  know  that  this  crypt  was  erected  by  Archbishop 
Blackadder  in  the  Sixteenth  Century  would  be  very  much 
puzzled  by  this  building.  It  is  as  unlike  English  work  of 
the  same  period  as  can  well  be  imagined.  At  first  sight, 
looking  at  the  outside  of  it,  one  would  say  that  it  was  Early 
English.  The  builders  seem  to  have  done  their  best  to  copy 
from  the  adjoining  crypt.  The  plan  of  the  window-jambs  is 
very  much  the  same,  and  even  the  mouldings ;  but  I  have 
never  seen  an  instance  where  a  late  workman  has  managed 
to  make  an  early  capital  or  base.  The  late  work  is  sure  to 
be  detected  there  if  nowhere  else ;  and  here,  as  both  can  be 
seen  from  the  same  spot,  it  is  interesting  to  compare  the  one 
with  the  other. 

The  spire  is  the  most  modern  portion  of  the  building. 
The  upper  part  of  the  tower  was  not  erected  till  1425,  and 
the  spire  considerably  later,  so  we  have  the  following  se- 
quence— 1st,  portion  of  a  building  erected  about  1170-90  ; 
2d,  part  of  a  nave,  circa  1200-20 ;  3d,  crypt  and  choir,  1240- 
80;  4th,  upper  part  of  nave,  1270-1300 ;  5th,  chapter- 
house, circa  1425 ;  6th,  tower,  1425 ;  7th,  south  crypt, 
1500  ;  8th,  spire.     So  that  we  have  the  remains  of  work 


224  GLASGOW  CATHEDRAL 

done  from  time  to  time  during  a  period  of  three  hundred 
years. 

I  shall  now  refer  to  some  of  the  most  interesting  and  pe- 
culiar features  of  the  building.  The  most  interesting,  of 
course,  is  the  crypt.  I  have  seen  crypts  which  were  as 
interesting  to  me  because  more  puzzling,  but  none  so  beau- 
tiful. In  this  respect  there  is  nothing  at  all  to  compare 
with  it.  It  was  the  last  important  crypt  built  in  Britain, 
and  the  designer  had  at  his  disposal  the  whole  resources  of 
the  perfected  Pointed  Style.  He  had  also  a  most  suitable 
site  for  the  purpose;  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  he  made 
the  most  of  his  opportunities,  as  both  the  general  disposition 
and  grouping  of  the  parts,  and  all  the  details,  are  alike  admi- 
rable. 

The  approach  to  the  crypt  from  the  upper  church  is  by 
two  stairs  going  down  north  and  south  from  the  transept, 
turning  east  into  the  aisles.  The  north  approach,  east  from 
the  transept,  has  been  completed  in  accordance  with  what 
has,  no  doubt,  been  the  architect's  original  design,  but  he 
has  not  been  allowed  to  repeat  his  beautiful  design  on  the 
south  side.  Returning  to  the  transept,  it  will  be  observed 
that  on  descending  the  first  flight  of  steps  north  and  south 
you  enter  porches  with  elaborate  groined  vaults  of  the  same 
age  as  Blackadder's  crypt ;  but  the  piers  from  which  this 
vaulting  springs  are  of  the  same  age  as  the  main  crypt.  It 
would  thus  seem  that  the  original  design  here  was  never 
completed,  or  that  it  was  altered  towards  the  end  of  the  Fif- 
teenth Century. 

In  the  nave  the  most  noticeable  points  are  that  the  bases 
of  the  responds  at  the  transept  and  the  bases  of  the  shafts 
on  the  aisle-walls  are  distinctly  older  than  the  bases  of  the 
main  piers  and  the  bases  of  the  west  responds.     The  piers 


GLASGOW  CATHEDRAL  225 

might  at  first  sight  be  taken  to  be  older  than  the  piers  of  the 
choir;  but  while  I  think  the  builders  have  been  influenced 
by  an  older  design  (as  in  the  case  of  the  chapter-house)  they 
have  taken  such  liberties  with  it  in  matters  of  detail  as  to 
prove  that  the  work  was  actually  executed  after  the  erection 
of  the  choir.  Thus  on  these  piers  we  have  not  only  the  la- 
ter base  but  the  fillets  on  the  shafts,  and  a  somewhat  clumsy 
late  variety  of  capital. 

In  the  choir  we  have  the  somewhat  unusual  feature  of  a 
pier  in  the  centre  carrying  the  east  gable,  and  over  it  four 
lancets  instead  of  the  more  usual  five.  The  plate-tracery 
of  the  side-aisle  windows  is  also  worthy  of  notice,  being  very 
peculiar.  The  arrangement  of  the  east  end  is  altogether 
exceptional,  and  has  no  doubt  been  influenced  by  the  pecu- 
liarity of  the  site.  The  centre  pier  may  be  said  to  continue 
the  arcade  round  the  east  end.  The  aisles  are  also  contin- 
ued round  ;  but  at  this  point  the  aisle  is  double,  and  the 
bays  of  the  outer  or  east  aisle  have  been  used  as  chapels. 
The  design  of  the  Lady  Chapel,  and  of  its  east  end  especially, 
is  exceedingly  elegant. 

The  south  crypt,  commonly  called  "  Blackadder's  Aisle," 
or  more  correctly,  as  Mr.  Andrew  Macgeorge  has  shown 
{Old  Glasgow)^  the  "  Aisle  of  Fergus,"  is  chiefly  interesting 
as  an  illustration  of  the  pertinacity  with  which  the  Scotch 
architects  stuck  to  the  earlier  forms  long  after  their  use  had 
been  discontinued  in  England.  From  the  outside  this  looks 
much  more  like  Early  English  than  Sixteenth  Century 
work,  and  even  inside  we  can  find  no  trace  of  the  Perpen- 
dicular style,  yet  it  was  not  begun  till  the  very  end  of  the 
Fifteenth  Century,  and  v/as  probably  not  completed  till  the 
early  part  of  the  Sixteenth. 


COMO  CATHEDRAL 

JOHN  ADDINGTON  SYMONDS 

THE  Cathedral  of  Como  is  perhaps  the  most  perfect 
building  in  Italy  for  illustrating  the  fusion  of  Gothic 
and  Renaissance  styles,  both  of  a  good  type  and  exquisite 
in  their  sobriety.  The  Gothic  ends  with  the  nave.  The 
noble  transepts  and  the  choir,  each  terminating  in  a  rounded 
tribune  of  the  same  dimensions,  are  carried  out  in  a  simple 
and  decorous  Bramantesque  manner.  The  transition  from 
the  one  style  to  the  other  is  managed  so  felicitously  and  the 
sympathies  between  them  are  so  well  developed,  that  there 
is  no  discord.  What  we  here  call  Gothic,  is  conceived  in 
a  truly  Southern  spirit,  without  fantastic  efflorescence  or 
imaginative  complexity  of  multiplied  parts  ;  while  the  Re- 
naissance manner,  as  applied  by  Tommaso  Rodari,  has  not 
yet  stiffened  into  the  lifeless  neo-Latinism  of  the  later 
Cinque  Cento  ;  it  is  still  distinguished  by  delicate  inventive- 
ness and  beautiful  subordination  of  decorative  detail  to  ar- 
chitectural effect.  Under  these  happy  conditions  we  feel 
that  the  Gothic  of  the  nave,  with  its  superior  severity  and 
sombreness,  dilates  into  the  lucid  harmonies  of  choir  and 
transepts  like  a  flower  unfolding.  In  the  one  the  mind  is 
tuned  to  inner  meditation  and  religious  awe  ;  in  the  other 
the  worshipper  passes  into  a  temple  of  the  clear  explicit 
faith — as  an  initiated  neophyte  might  be  received  into  the 
meaning  of  the  mysteries. 

After  the  collapse  of  the  Roman  Empire  the  district  of 


COMO  CATHEDRAL 


COMO  CATHEDRAL  22/ 

Como  seems  to  have  maintained  more  vividly  than  the  rest 
of  Northern  Italy  some  memory  of  classic  art.  Magistri 
Comacini  is  a  title  frequently  inscribed  upon  deeds  and 
charters  of  the  earlier  Middle  Ages  as  synonymous  with 
sculptors  and  architects.  This  fact  may  help  to  account 
for  the  purity  and  beauty  of  the  Duomo.  It  is  the  work 
of  a  race  in  which  the  tradition  of  delicate  artistic  invention 
had  never  been  wholly  interrupted.  To  Tommaso  Rodari 
and  his  brothers,  Bernardino  and  Jacopo,  the  world  owes 
this  sympathetic  fusion  of  Gothic  and  the  Bramantesque 
styles;  and  theirs,  too,  is  the  sculpture  with  which  the 
Duomo  is  so  richly  decorated.  They  were  natives  of 
Maroggia,  a  village  near  Mendrisio,  beneath  the  crests  of 
Monte  Generoso,  close  to  the  Campione,  which  sent  so 
many  able  craftsmen  out  into  the  world  between  the  years 
1300  and  1500.  Indeed  the  name  of  Campionesi  would 
probably  have  been  given  to  the  Rodari,  had  they  left  their 
native  province  for  service  in  Eastern  Lombardy.  The 
body  of  the  Duomo  had  been  finished  when  Tommaso 
Rodari  was  appointed  master  of  the  fabric  in  1487.  To 
complete  the  work  by  the  addition  of  a  tribune  was  his 
duty.  He  prepared  a  wooden  model  and  exposed  it,  after 
the  fashion  of  those  times,  for  criticism  in  his  bottega ;  and 
the  usual  difference  of  opinion  arose  among  the  citizens  of 
Como  concerning  its  merits.  Cristoforo  Solaro,  surnamed 
II  Gobbo,  was  called  in  to  advise.  It  may  be  remembered 
that  when  Michelangelo  first  placed  his  Pieta  in  St,  Peter's, 
rumour  gave  it  to  this  celebrated  Lombard  sculptor,  and 
the  Florentine  was  constrained  to  set  his  own  signature 
upon  the  marble.  The  same  Solaro  carved  the  monument 
of  Beatrice  Sforza  in  the  Certosa  of  Pavia.  He  was  indeed 
in  all  points  competent  to  criticize  or  to  confirm  the  design 


228  COMO  CATHEDRAL 

of  his  fellow-craftsman.  II  Gobbo  disapproved  of  the  pro- 
portions chosen  by  Rodari,  and  ordered  a  new  model  to  be 
made ;  but  after  much  discussion,  and  some  concessions  on 
the  part  of  Rodari,  who  is  said  to  have  increased  the  num- 
ber of  windows  and  lightened  the  orders  of  his  model,  the 
work  was  finally  entrusted  to  the  master  of  Maroggia. 

Not  less  creditable  than  the  general  design  of  the  tribune 
is  the  sculpture  executed  by  the  brothers.  The  north  side 
door  is  a  masterwork  of  early  Renaissance  chiselling,  com- 
bining mixed  Christian  and  classical  motives  with  a  wealth 
of  floral  ornament.  Inside,  over  the  same  door,  is  a  pro- 
cession of  children  seeming  to  represent  the  Triumph  of 
Bacchus  with  perhaps  some  Christian  symbolism.  Oppo- 
site, above  the  south  door,  is  a  frieze  of  fighting  Tritons — 
horsed  sea  deities  pounding  one  another  with  bunches  of 
fish  and  splashing  the  water,  in  Mantegna's  spirit.  The 
doorways  of  the  facade  are  decorated  with  the  same  rare 
workmanship;  and  the  canopies,  supported  by  naked  fauns 
and  slender,  twisted  figures,  under  which  the  two  Plinies 
are  seated,  may  be  reckoned  among  the  supreme  achieve- 
ments of  delicate  Renaissance  sculpture.  The  Plinies  are 
not  like  the  work  of  the  same  master.  They  are  older, 
stiflTer,  and  more  Gothic.  The  chief  interest  attaching  to 
them  is  that  they  are  habited  and  seated  after  the  fashion  of 
Humanists.  This  consecration  of  the  two  Pagan  saints 
beside  the  portals  of  the  Christian  temple  is  truly  character- 
istic of  the  Fifteenth  Century  in  Italy.  Beneath,  are  little 
bas-reliefs  representing  scenes  from  the  respective  lives,  in 
the  style  of  carved  predellas  on  the  altars  of  saints. 

The  whole  church  is  peopled  with  detached  statues, 
among  which  a  Sebastian  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Madonna 
must   be    mentioned   as  singularly  beautiful.     It  is  a  finely 


COMO  CATHEDRAL  229 

modelled  figure,  with  the  full  life  and  the  exuberant  ado- 
lescence of  Venetian  inspiration.  A  peculiar  feature  of  the 
external  architecture  is  the  series  of  Atlantes,  bearing  on 
their  shoulders  urns,  heads  of  lions,  and  other  devices,  and 
standing  on  brackets  round  the  upper  cornice  just  below 
the  roof.  They  are  of  all  sorts  :  young  and  old,  male  and 
female  ;  classically  nude  and  boldly  outlined.  These  water- 
conduits,  the  work  of  Bernardo  Bianco  and  Francesco 
Rusca,  illustrate  the  departure  of  the  earlier  Renaissance 
from  the  Gothic  style.  They  are  gargoyles ;  but  they 
have  lost  the  grotesque  element.  At  the  same  time  the 
sculptor,  while  discarding  Gothic  tradition,  has  not  betaken 
himself  yet  to  a  servile  imitation  of  the  antique.  He  has 
used  invention  and  substituted  for  gi-innin^  dragons'  heads 
something  wild  and  bizarre  of  his  own  in  harmony  with 
classic  taste. 

The  pictures  in  the  chapels,  chiefly  by  Luini  and  Ferrari 
— an  idyllic  Nativity,  with  faun-like  shepherds  and  choirs 
of  angels — a  sumptuous  adoration  of  the  Magi — a  jewelled 
Sposalizio  with  abundance  of  golden  hair  flowing  over 
draperies  of  green  and  crimson — will  interest  those  who  are 
as  yet  unfamiliar  with  Lombard  painting.  Yet  their  archi- 
tectural setting,  perhaps,  is  superior  to  their  intrinsic  merit 
as  works  of  art;  and  their  chief  value  consists  in  adding 
rare  dim  flakes  of  colour  to  the  cool  light  of  the  lovely 
church.  More  curious,  because  less  easily  matched,  is  the 
gilded  woodwork  above  the  altar  of  S.  Abondio,  attributed 
to  a  German  carver,  but  executed  for  the  most  part  in  the 
purest  Luiniesque  manner.  The  pose  of  the  enthroned 
Madonna,  the  type  and  gesture  of  S.  Catherine  and  the 
treatment  of  the  Pieta  above,  are  thoroughly  Lom- 
bard, showing  how  Luini's  ideal  of  beauty  could   be   ex- 


230  COMO  CATHEDRAL 

pressed  in  carving.  Some  of  the  choicest  figures  in  the 
Monastero  Maggiore  at  Milan  seem  to  have  descended 
from  the  walls  and  stepped  into  their  tabernacles  on  this 
altar.  Yet  the  style  is  not  maintained  consistently.  In  the 
reliefs  illustrating  the  life  of  S.  Abondio  we  miss  Luini's 
childlike  grace,  and  find  instead  a  something  that  reminds  us 
of  Donatello — a  seeking  after  the  classical  in  dress,  carriage 
and  grouping  of  accessory  figures.  It  may  have  been  that 
the  carver,  recognizing  Luini's  defective  composition,  and 
finding  nothing  in  that  master's  manner  adapted  to  the 
spirit  of  relief,  had  the  good  taste  to  render  what  was 
Luiniesquely  lovely  in  his  female  figures,  and  to  fall  back  on 
a  severer  model  for  his  bas-reliefs. 

The  building-fund  for  the  Duomo  was  raised  in  Como 
and  in  its  districts.  Boxes  were  placed  in  all  the  churches 
to  receive  the  alms  of  those  who  wished  to  aid  the  work. 
The  clergy  begged  in  Lent,  and  preached  the  duty  of  con- 
tributing on  special  days.  Presents  of  lime  and  bricks  and 
other  materials  were  thankfully  received.  Bishops,  canons 
and  municipal  magistrates  were  expected  to  make  costly 
gifts  on  taking  office.  Notaries,  under  penalty  of  paying 
100  soldi  if  they  neglected  their  engagement,  were  obliged 
to  persuade  testators,  cum  bonis  modis  dulcitur^  to  inscribe  the 
Duomo  on  their  wills.  Fines  for  various  offences  were 
voted  to  the  building  by  the  city.  Each  new  burgher  paid 
a  certain  sum  ;  while  guilds  and  farmers  of  the  taxes  bought 
monopolies  and  privileges  at  the  price  of  yearly  subsidies. 
A  lottery  was  finally  established  for  the  benefit  of  the  fabric. 
Of  course,  each  payment  to  the  good  work  carried  with  it 
spiritual  privileges;  and  so  willingly  did  the  people  respond 
to  the  call  of  the  Church,  that  during  the  Sixteenth  Century 
the  sums  subscribed  amounted  to  200,000  golden  crowns. 


COMO  CATHEDRAL  23 1 

Among  the  most  munificent  donators  are  mentioned  the 
Marchese  Giacomo  Gallio,  who  bequeathed  290,000  lire, 
and  a  Benzi,  who  gave  10,000  ducats. 

While  the  people  of  Como  were  thus  straining  every 
nerve  to  complete  a  pious  work,  which,  at  the  same  time  is 
one  of  the  most  perfect  masterpieces  of  Italian  art,  their 
lovely  lake  was  turned  into  a  pirate's  stronghold,  and  its 
green  waves  stained  with  slaughter  of  conflicting  navies. 


VASSILI-BLAGENNOI,   MOSCOW 

THEOPHILE  GAUTIER 

IMAGINE  on  a  kind  of  terraced  platform  the  most 
extraordinary  and  incoherent  conglomeration  of  cabins, 
cells,  outside  stairways,  arched  galleries,  recesses  and  unex- 
pected projections  of  unsymmetrical  porches,  chapels  in 
juxtaposition,  windows  cut  through  as  if  by  accident,  and 
indescribable  forms  resulting  from  the  interior  arrangements, 
as  if  the  architect  had  begun  at  the  centre  of  the  building 
and  had  pushed  the  edifice  outwards.  From  the  roof  of  this 
church,  which  you  would  take  for  a  Hindu,  Chinese,  or 
Thibetan  pagoda,  springs  a  forest  of  the  strangest  and  most 
fantastic  bell-towers.  The  central  one,  which  is  the 
highest  and  most  massive,  consists  of  three  or  four  stories 
from  its  base  to  the  spire.  First  come  little  columns  and 
denticulated  fillets ;  then  pilasters  framing  long,  mullioned 
windows ;  then  a  collection  of  small  arches  superimposed 
upon  one  another;  and  then  the  spire,  the  ridges  of  which 
are  denticulated  with  little  crockets. 

The  whole  ends  with  a  lantern  terminated  by  an  inverted 
golden  bulb  bearing  the  Russian  cross  at  its  summit.  The 
other  towers,  though  smaller  in  size  and  height,  are  shaped 
like  minarets  and  their  fantastically  decorated  turrets  termi- 
nate with  that  same  peculiar  swelling  into  onion-shaped 
cupolas.  Some  are  hammered  into  facets;  some  are  ribbed; 
some  are  cut  into  diamond  points  like  pineapples ;  some  are 
ornamented    with   spiral    stripes ;    some    are    covered    with 


VASSILI-BLAGENNOI,  MOSCOW  233 

scales ;  some  are  lozenge-shaped ;  some  look  like  honey- 
combs ;  and  all  carry  on  their  summits  the  cross  and  the 
golden  ball. 

The  fantastic  effect  of  Vassili-Blagennoi  is  still  further 
increased  by  the  fact  that  it  is  painted  in  the  most  incon- 
gruous colours,  which,  however,  produce  an  effect  that 
is  most  harmonious  and  charming  to  the  eye.  Red,  blue, 
apple-green  and  yellow  accentuate  the  different  portions  of 
the  building.  The  little  columns,  the  capitals,  the  arches 
and  ornaments  are  all  painted  with  various  tones  that  bring 
them  out  in  strong  relief.  In  the  occasional  flat  surfaces 
the  panels  frame  flower  pots,  rosettes,  cyphers  and  grotesque 
figures.  The  domes  of  the  bell-towers  are  decorated  with 
branched  patterns  that  resemble  India  shawls,  and  they 
make  the  roof  of  the  church  look  like  a  sultan's  Kiosk. 

In  order  that  nothing  should  be  lacking  to  the  magical 
effect,  some  particles  of  snow,  lodged  in  the  projections  of 
the  roof,  friezes  and  the  ornaments,  made  the  great  diapered 
robe  of  Vassili-Blagennoi  seem  sprinkled  with  silver  spangles; 
and  the  whole  marvellous  decoration  thus  glittered  with  a 
thousand  brilliant  points  of  light. 

Resolving  to  leave  my  visit  to  the  Kremlin  for  another 
occasion,  I  immediately  entered  Vassili-Blagennoi,  whose 
strange  exterior  had  so  excited  my  curiosity,  to  see  if  the 
interior  would  be  of  equal  interest.  The  same  fantastic 
spirit  has  presided  over  the  interior  arrangement  and  the 
decoration.  The  first  and  low  vaulted  chapel,  where 
several  lamps  were  twinkling,  resembled  a  golden  cavern  ; 
unexpected  gleams  of  light  flashed  across  the  yellowish 
shadows  and  brought  into  relief  those  rigid  pictures  of  the 
Greek  saints  as  if  they  were  phantoms.  The  mosaics  of 
St.  Mark's  at  Venice  give  an  approximate  idea  of  the  as- 


234  VASSILI-BLAGENNOI,  MOSCOW 

tonishing  richness  of  their  effect.  In  the  background,  the 
iconostase  arose  like  a  golden  and  jewelled  wall  between  the 
faithful  and  the  arcana  of  the  sanctuary,  in  a  kind  of 
twilight  traversed  by  rays  of  light. 

Vassili-Blagennoi  does  not  present,  like  other  churches, 
a  single  structure  composed  of  naves  and  intersecting 
transepts,  according  to  ecclesiastical  rules.  It  is  formed 
rather  of  a  number  of  churches  and  chapels  placed  side  by 
side  and  independent  of  each  other.  Each  bell-tower 
contains  one  chapel,  which  seems  to  arrange  itself  as  it 
pleases  in  this  mould.  The  vault  is  the  terminal  of  the 
spire,  or  bulb  of  the  cupola :  you  might  fancy  yourself  in- 
side the  enormous  helmet  of  a  Tartar  or  Circassian  giant. 
All  these  canopies  are  marvellously  painted  and  gilded. 
And  so  are  the  walls  covered  with  figures,  intentionally  of 
a  hieratic  barbarism,  which  the  Greek  monks  of  Mount 
Athos  have  preserved  from  century  to  century,  and  which 
in  Russia  deceives  the  inattentive  observer  more  than  once 
with  regard  to  the  age  of  a  building.  It  is  a  strange 
sensation  to  find  yourself  in  this  mysterious  sanctuary, 
where  personages  well  known  to  the  Roman  Catholic  cult, 
mingled  with  special  saints  of  the  Greek  calendar,  seem, 
with  their  constrained,  archaic  and  Byzantine  appearance, 
to  have  been  awkwardly  translated  into  gold  by  the  infantile 
devotion  of  a  primitive  people.  These  images  that  seem 
like  idols  appear  to  regard  you  through  the  enamelled  open- 
ings of  the  inconostases  where  they  have  arranged  themselves 
symmetrically  upon  the  golden  walls,  opening  their  great 
fixed  eyes  and  lifting  their  brown  hands  with  fingers  held 
in  a  symbolic  fashion,  and  produce  by  their  wild  super- 
human and  immutably  traditional  aspect  a  religious  feeling 
that  could  not  be  obtained  from  works  of  a  more  advanced 


VASSILI-BLAGENNOI,  MOSCOW  235 

art.  These  figures,  gleaming  from  the  gold  and  seen  by 
the  flickering  light  of  the  lamps,  easily  assume  a  kind  of 
fantastic  life  that  impresses  vivid  imaginations,  and,  as  the 
daylight  declines,  inspires  them  w^ith  a  kind  of  sacred 
horror. 

Narrow  corridors  and  low-arched  galleries,  where  each 
elbow  touches  the  walls  and  you  have  to  bend  your  head 
as  you  walk,  lead  from  chapel  to  chapel.  Nothing  could 
be  more  fantastic  than  these  passages :  the  architect  seems 
to  have  taken  pleasure  in  entangling  them.  You  mount, 
you  descend,  you  go  out  of  the  building,  you  enter  again, 
you  walk  around  a  tower  upon  a  cornice,  and  then  you 
walk  along  through  a  wall  by  tortuous  ways,  like  the 
capillary  tubes  of  a  madrepore  or  the  roads  that  insects  bore 
under  the  bark  of  a  tree.  At  length,  after  so  many  turn- 
ings and  windings,  you  are  seized  with  dizziness  and  you 
imagine  yourself  to  be  a  mollusk  in  a  gigantic  shell.  I 
have  said  nothing  of  the  mysterious  nooks,  the  inexplicable 
dark  passages  leading  one  knows  not  where  and  obscure 
stairways  descending  into  depths  of  darkness — for  I  could 
never  finish  describing  such  a  building,  in  which  you  walk 
as  if  in  a  dream. 

The  winter  days  are  very  short  in  Russia,  and  in  the 
deepening  twilight  shadows  the  lights  of  the  lamps  were 
beginning  to  shine  more  brightly  before  the  pictures  of  the 
saints  as  I  went  out  of  Vassili-BIagennoi. 


GLOUCESTER  CATHEDRAL 

DEAN   SPENCE 

A  STRANGER  gazing  on  the  solemn  beauty  of 
Gloucester  Cathedral,  who  knew  nothing  previ- 
ously of  its  story,  would  hesitate  before  he  called  it  a  great 
Norman  church.  The  lordly  Perpendicular  tower,  if  less 
vast  than  the  mighty  mid-tower  of  Lincoln — that  grandest 
of  our  English  towers — is  certainly  more  graceful.  The 
long  line  of  Decorated  windows  looking  into  the  college 
green,  the  huge  choir  window,  the  matchless  Lady  Chapel 
at  the  east  end  telling  of  the  closing  year  of  the  Fifteenth 
Century — all  these  prominent  features  would  indicate  rather 
a  Perpendicular  and  Decorated  than  a  Norman  pile. 

Only  when  a  stranger  began  to  look  more  closely  into 
the  details  of  the  exterior  of  the  great  church,  he  would 
see  signs  of  an  older  school  of  thought.  When  he  ex- 
amined the  coronet  of  chapels  surrounding  the  soaring 
choir,  or  marked  the  tall  towers  flanking  the  transept, 
"  Surely,"  he  would  say,  "  the  Norman  builders  have  done 
these."  But  he  would  hesitate  before  pronouncing  it  a 
Norman  church  till  he  passed  through  the  south  porch,  the 
principal  entrance. 

Let  us  accompany  him  there.  The  porch  itself  is  of 
Perpendicular  architecture,  rich  with  panelled  tracery  and 
sculptured  figures.  The  great  doors  of  the  church  are  re- 
markable, much  older  evidently  than  the  elaborate  stone 
framework  in  which  they  are  set.     These  doors  are  noble 


GLOUCESTER  CATHEDRAL  237 

examples  of  Norman  wood  and  ironwork,  coloured  with 
that  delicate  and  tender  hue  which  only  many  centuries  of 
use  can  give.  The  doors  of  the  south  porch  rank  high 
among  the  very  ancient  doors  of  England. 

The  first  impression  of  the  nave  changes  all  earlier 
thoughts  of  the  age  of  the  building.  It  is  unmistakably 
Norman,  grand  beyond  expression,  but  cold,  severe  and 
deathly  white.  The  stained  glass  (mostly  modern)  of  the 
Norman  and  Decorated  windows  fails  to  supply  the  evident 
lack  of  colour. 

There  was  a  time  when  lines  of  blue  and  scarlet  and  gold  re- 
lieved the  white  vaulted  roof,  when  altars  agleam  with  colour 
and  pale  flickering  lights  gave  light  and  brightness  to  the  chill 
whiteness  of  this  vast  and  mighty  colonnade.  On  Sunday 
evenings,  when  the  nave  is  filled  with  worshippers  and  the 
bright  searching  daylight  is  replaced  by  the  yellow  gleam  of 
the  little  tongues  of  fire  above  the  great  and  massive 
arches,  the  want  of  colour  is  little  felt,  and  the  noble  and 
severe  beauty  of  the  matchless  Norman  work  in  the  great 
nave  strikes  the  beholder.  The  nave  of  Gloucester,  to  be 
loved  and  admired  as  it  deserves,  and  as  it  appeared  to  men 
in  the  days  of  the  Plantagenet  Kings,  must  be  seen  in  one 
of  the  many  crowded  evening  services. 

Save  that  the  altars  with  their  wealth  of  colour  and  light 
are  gone,  and  the  lines  of  colouring  and  the  glint  of  gold 
of  the  Norman  wooden  ceiling  no  longer  are  visible  on  the 
stone  vaulted  roof  above  and  the  south  aisle  Norman 
windows  are  replaced  with  exquisite  Decorated  work  of  the 
time  of  the  second  Edward,  there  is  no  great  structural 
change  since  the  day  at  the  close  of  the  Eleventh  Century 
when  Abbot  Fulda  from  Shrewsbury  preached  his  famous 
sermon  to  the  Gloucester  folk,  the  sermon  in  v/hich  he  fore- 


238  GLOUCESTER  CATHEDRAL 

told  the  death  of  the  imperious  and  cruel  Rufus  in  words  so 
plain,  so  unmistakable,  that  Abbot  Serlo  of  Gloucester, 
who  loved  the  great  wicked  king  in  spite  of  his  many  sins, 
was  alarmed,  and  at  once  sent  to  warn  his  master,  but  in 
vain.  Rufus  disregarded  the  Gloucester  note  of  alarm,  and 
a  few  hours  later  the  news  of  the  King  of  England's  bloody 
death,  in  the  leafy  glades  of  the  New  Forest,  rang  through 
Normandy  and  England. 

Yes,  it  is  the  same  nave,  only  colder  and  whiter,  on 
which  Anselm,  the  saintly  archbishop,  and  Rufus  gazed  ; 
the  same  avenue  of  massy  pillars — then  scarcely  finished — 
through  which  Maud  the  Empress  often  went  to  her  prayers 
with  her  chivalrous  half-brother.  Earl  Robert.  Beauclerc, 
her  father,  too,  and  some  grey-haired  survivors  of  Hastings 
must  have  looked  on  these  huge  columns  crowned  with 
their  round  arches  which  excite  cur  wonder  to-day.  They 
were  a  curious  fancy  of  the  architect  of  Serlo  ;  or  was  it  not 
probably  a  design  of  a  yet  older  artist  of  Edward  the  Con- 
fessor ?  These  enormous  round  shafts,  which  are  the 
peculiar  feature  of  the  nave  of  our  storied  abbey,  have  only 
once  been  repeated,  probably  by  the  same  architect  in  the 
neighbouring  abbey  of  Tewkesbury,  a  few  years  later. 
There  is  nothing  like  them  on  either  side  of  the  silver 
streak  of  sea.  The  Tewkesbury  copies  are  slightly 
smaller;  otherwise  they  are  exact  reproductions  of  Glou- 
cester. 

A  solid  and  rather  ugly  stone  screen  closes  the  east  end 
of  the  Norman  nave.  You  pass  through  a  small  arch  in 
the  screen,  and  so  beneath  the  broad  platform  on  which 
the  great  organ  stands.  Once  a  huge  rood  cross,  or  rather 
crucifix,  filled  up  the  space  now  tenanted  by  the  organ. 
The  vista  has  not  gained   by  the   substitution  ;  you   stand 


GLOUCESTER  CATHEDRAL  239 

now  in  another  world  of  thought.  The  Norman  and 
Romanesque  conception  is  replaced  by  a  creation  of  two 
hundred  and  more  years  later. 

The  choir  on  which  you  are  now  looking  is  very  long — 
not  too  long,  however,  for  its  great  height — for  the  fretted 
roof,  a  delicate  mosaic  of  tender  colours  set  in  pale  gold, 
soars  high  above  the  vaulting  of  the  nave.  The  propor- 
tions are  simply  admirable.  From  the  lofty  traceried  roof 
down  to  the  elaborately  tiled  floor,  the  walls  are  covered 
with  richly  carved  panelled  work,  broken  here  and  there 
with  delicate  screens  of  stone.  The  eastern  end,  hard  by 
the  high  altar,  is  the  home  of  several  shrines.  There  is 
happily  no  lack  of  colour  in  this  part  of  our  Cathedral. 
The  western  end  is  furnished  with  sixty  richly-carved 
canopied  stalls  of  dark  oak  mostly  the  handiwork  of  the 
Fourteenth  Century.  The  curiously  and  elaborately  fretted 
work  of  the  roof  we  have  already  spoken  of  as  a  rich 
mosaic  of  gold  and  colours.  The  floor,  if  one  dare  breathe 
a  criticism  in  this  charmed  building,  is  too  bright  and  glisten- 
ing, but  it  is  in  its  way  varied  and  beautiful.  The  carving 
of  the  reredos,  a  work  of  our  own  day,  is,  to  the  writer's 
mind,  open  to  criticism,  but  is  still  very  fair,  telling  in  every 
detail  of  loving  work  and  true  reverence.  The  whole  of 
this,  the  loveliest  choir  in  England,  is  lit  by  a  mighty  wall 
of  jewelled  glass  behind  the  great  golden  reredos. 

This  vast  east  window  which  floods  the  choir  of  Glouces- 
ter, beautiful  as  a  dream  with  its  soft  silvery  light  faintly 
coloured  with  jewelled  shafts  of  the  richest  blue  and  red 
and  here  and  there  a  vein  of  pale  gold — this  vast  window 
could  not  have  been  seen  out  of  England,  or,  at  least,  one 
of  the  grey  and  misty  northern  countries,  where  gleams  of 
''qht   or  shafts    of  sunshine  are  exceedingly  precious.     In 


240  GLOUCESTER  CATHEDRAL 

south  or  central  Europe  the  effect  of  such  a  mighty  window 
would  be  simply  dazzling  to  the  eye,  would  be  painful  from 
its  excess  of  light. 

This  great  east  window  is  the  largest  painted  window  in 
EnfTland — the  largest,  the  writer  believes,  in  Europe.  Its 
stonework  exceeds  in  size  the  magnificent  east  window  of 
York  Minster,  which  stands  next  to  it.  The  respective 
measurements  are  Gloucester,  seventy-two  feet  high  by 
thirty-eight  wide  ;  York,  seventy-eight  by  thirty-three  feet. 
The  lower  part  of  the  centre  compartments  at  Gloucester  arc 
not  completely  glazed  owing  to  the  opening  into  the  Lady 
Ciiapci.  The  glass  of  Gloucester  is  on  the  whole  light- 
coloured,  the  designers  being  evidently  anxious  that  the 
beautiful  stone  panels  and  screen  work  should  be  seen  in  all 
their  exquisite  details.  The  glass  has  suffered  marvellously 
little  from  the  ravages  of  weather  and  the  fanaticism  of 
revolutionary  times ;  the  busy  restorer,  too,  has  dealt  gently 
with  it.  There  are  forty-nine  figures  and  of  these  thirty- 
seven  are  pronounced  by  our  lynx-eyed  experts  to  be 
absolutely  genuine.  Of  the  eighteen  armorial  shields  in  the 
lower  lights  thirteen  are  certainly  the  identical  shields  in- 
serted by  the  survivors  of  Cressy.  The  whole  of  the  gor- 
geous canopy-work  has  been  untouched. 

The  subject  of  the  paintings  is  the  Coronation  of  the 
Virgin  and  the  figures  consist  of  winged  angels,  apostles, 
saints,  kings  and  abbots.  The  coats-of-arms  are  those 
borne  by  King  Edward  III.,  the  Black  Prince  and  their 
knightly  companions,  such  as  the  Lords  of  Berkeley, 
Arundel,  Pembroke,  Warwick,  Northampton,  Talbot  and 
others  who  took  part  in  the  famous  campaign  in  which  oc- 
curred the  battle  of  Cressy,  and  who  in  some  degree  were 
connected  with  Gloucestershire.     The  windov/  was  in  fact 


GLOUCESTER  CATHEDRAL  24 1 

a  memorial  of  the  great  English  victory,  and  may  fairly  be 
termed  the  "  Cressy  "  window. 

While  the  stone  work  of  this  beautiful  structure  is  of 
fully  developed  Perpendicular,  most  curiously  all  the  details 
of  the  glass  are  pure  Decorated.  The  Perpendicular  work 
in  the  choir  was  finished  before  a.  d.  1350,  and  accord- 
ingly is  a  very  early  instance  of  this  style ;  our  window, 
therefore,  demonstrates  that  the  development  of  the  Per- 
pendicular style  took  place  at  an  earlier  period  among 
masons  than  it  did  among  the  craftsmen  in  stained  glass. 

The  five  principal  historic  tombs  of  Gloucester  are  in 
the  choir.  Three  are  on  the  right  hand  of  the  high  altar, 
one  is  in  the  centre  below  the  altar  steps,  and  one  on  the 
left  side  raised  on  a  Perpendicular  bracket  of  unusual  work- 
manship. The  canopied  tomb,  in  the  place  of  honour  by 
the  altar,  is,  as  usual,  the  resting-place  of  the  founder  of 
the  abbey,  Osric  the  Woden-descended,  the  near  kinsman 
of  Penda  and  Ethelred,  the  Mercian  Kings. 


CHARTRES  CATHEDRAL 

H.  J.   L.  J.  MASSE 

SINCE  the  Cathedral  has  been  scheduled  as  a  historic 
monument,  the  government  has  devoted  considerable 
sums  to  the  repair  of  the  fabric,  and  much  has  been  done 
in  the  way  of  wholesale  restoration,  which  might  well  have 
been  postponed.  The  whole  exterior  has  been  overhauled 
from  the  top  of  the  new  belfry  to  the  lowest  courses  of 
masonry  in  the  chevet.  Parts  of  the  western  front  have 
been  renewed  and  the  south  porches  have  been  (1898-1900) 
taken  to  pieces,  much  new  work  inserted  on  the  lines  of 
the  old,  but  without  the  original  devotional  feeling,  and  the 
whole  strengthened  with  steel  girders.  Most  of  the  stained- 
glass  windows,  if  not  all,  have  been  recently  releaded, 
cleaned  and  securely  refixed. 

At  first  sight  the  massiveness  of  the  proportions  strike 
one  the  most,  but  studied  piece  by  piece  the  thoughtfulness 
of  the  construction  will  become  evident.  The  whole  of 
the  building  proper  is  simple  and  restrained,  the  porches 
and  details  are  a  mass  of  symbolic  ornamentation  and 
graceful  work.  While  simple  and  restrained,  the  sense  of 
strength  in  the  building  is  enormous. 

The  enormous  buttresses  and  their  flying-buttresses  in 
two  tiers  are  another  feature  of  the  exterior.  Five  massive 
piers  on  either  side  of  the  nave  support  the  thrust  of  the 
vaulting  of  the  roof,  which  is  borne  by  the  flying-buttresses 
of  a  construction  peculiar  to  Chartres. 


CHARTRES  CATHEDRAL 


CHARTRES  CATHEDRAL  243 

The  Western  Front  is  the  finest  in  some  ways,  in  that 
it  is  the  most  complete.  At  the  ground  level  there  are 
three  rather  low  doorways  (which  compose  the  western  or 
usual  entrance)  dating  from  the  first  half  of  the  Twelfth 
Century,  1 134— 1 150.  Every  available  part  of  the  three 
arches  is  covered  with  sculptured  figures  and  ornament, 
varying  from  attenuated  figures  over  life-size  to  miniature 
figures  of  a  few  inches.  There  are  still  traces  of  gold  and 
colour  on  the  more  protected  figures — e.  g.^  in  the  tympanum 
of  the  central  door.  It  has  been  supposed  by  some  that  the 
motif  of  the  doorways  was  copied  or  borrowed  from  the 
front  at  Aries  ;  in  any  case,  this  doorway  remains  one  of 
the  typical  examples  of  Early  Gothic  work. — 

Above  the  doorways  are  three  windows  of  about  the 
same  date,  perhaps  a  trifle  later ;  above,  again,  is  the  rose 
window,  which  probably  replaced  an  early  triplet  window. 
This,  together  with  the  gallery — called  royal  from  the 
kings  represented  in  it — is  Thirteenth  Century  work,  and 
the  gable  is  again  a  century,  or  nearly  so,  later  in  date. 

Over  the  three  doorways  two  pilasters  with  simple 
mouldings  run  up  on  either  side  of  the  central  window  as 
far  as  the  rose  where  they  finish  with  carved  heads — on  the 
north  that  of  an  ox,  on  the  south  that  of  a  lion  holding  a 
man's  head,  symbolizing  the  fortier  and  the  suav'iter  of  the 
Church,  or,  perhaps.  Vigilance  and  Sacrifice. 

The  windows  are  of  extraordinary  size  though  they  are 
dwarfed  by  the  proportions  of  the  whole  and  the  towers  ; 
of  the  three,  that  in  the  centre  measures  thirty-four  feet 
nine  inches  by  thirteen  feet,  while  those  at  the  sides 
measure  twenty-eight  feet  by  nine  feet.  Traces  will  be 
noticed  in  the  wall  of  arches  over  the  two  side  windows. 

Above  the  cornice,  not  quite  in  the  centre  of  a  rather 


244  CHARTRES  CATHEDRAL 

Stiff  square  setting,  is  a  jewel,  a  chef-d'  ceuvre^  in  the  form 
of  a  rose  window,  forty-six  feet  in  extreme  diameter,  "  look- 
ing as  expansive  and  symbolic  as  if  it  were  the  wheel  of 
Time  itself."  This  window  was  copied  in  1225  for  the 
Cathedral  of  Cambrai  by  ViUard  de  Honnecourt,  and  is 
given  in  his  sketch-book. 

Higher  still  is  a  gallery  with  a  delicate  balustrade  sup- 
ported on  a  beautiful  cornice  and  stretching  across  the 
front  from  tower  to  tower,  and  above  it  is  a  row  of  niched 
I  „  ('  -  figures,  with  a  strong  family  likeness,  intended  for  the 
Kings  of  France. 

Above  the  gallery  in  a  niche  in  the  gable  is  a  huge  statue 
of  the  Virgin  and  Child  flanked  by  kneeling  angels  holding 
torches  in  their  hands,  and  on  the  apex  of  the  gable  is  the 
statue  of  Christ  in  the  act  of  bestowing  His  blessing. 

The  main  idea  of  the  western  entrance  is  the  Glorifica- 
tion of  the  Saviour,  and  it  is  carried  out  with  most  elabo- 
rate detail. 

The  South  Tower  in  the  West  Front,  usually  called  the 
clocher  vieux^  dates  from  about  mo — with  a  pause  at  1 150 
when  the  square  part  was  finished — to  the  year  11 70,  the 
date  of  its  completion.  This  tower  from  the  first  was  en- 
tirely built  of  stone  and  seems  to  have  been  repaired  for  the 
first  time  in  1395,  at  the  period  when  the  bells  were  inserted 
in  the  belfries,  but  it  was  never  raised  or  altered  in  design. 
It  was  again  repaired  in  1683,  and  in  1753-54  the  forty 
feet  at  the  top  were  restored  by  Guillois,  and  an  iron  cross 
and  ladder  placed  to  give  access  to  the  top.  Since  1836, 
when  this  belfry  was  gutted  by  fire,  it  is  only  possible  now 
to  go  up  to  the  second  floor,  and  that  by  a  ladder,  not  by 
any  means  an  assuring  mode  of  assent. 

The  enormous  size  of  the  blocks  of  stone  will  strike  the 


CHARTRES  CATHEDRAL  245 

attention  of  the  most  casual  visitor,  but  others  will  note 
the  union  of  massive  simplicity  with  perfect  grace  and 
agree  with  Viollet-le-Duc,  who  wrote  of  this  tower  that  it 
was  the  finest  work  of  the  kind  in  France.  "  The  sim- 
plicity of  its  mass,  the  perfect  proportion  of  its  various 
parts,  its  graceful  outline,  make  it  a  work  for  constant 
meditation."  "  The  base,"  he  adds,  "  is  full,  massive  and 
free  from  ornaments,  and  transforms  itself  as  it  shoots  up 
into  a  tapering  octagonal  spire,  in  such  a  way  that  it  is  not 
possible  to  say  when  the  heavier  construction  leaves  off  and 
the  lighter  begins." 

In  another  place  he  points  out  that  the  architect  has 
shown  an  unusual  restraint  in  his  work,  that  all  his  effects 
are  got  by  his  proportions  and  not  by  his  decoration  that 
the  transition  from  the  square  tower  to  the  octzgoml ^kbe, 
or  spire,  is  a  masterpiece  that  has  never  been  surpassed. 
Everything  has  been  carefully  thought  out  beforehand, 
nothing  left  to  chance.  He  finishes  by  saying  that  though 
this  old  clocher  is  fifty  years  older  than  the  church,  it  will, 
from  its  strength,  be  still  standing  when  the  rest  of  the 
building  has  become  a  ruin. 

jOn  the  lowest  part,  south  front  of  the  Tower  are  three 
statues,  one  representing  an  angel  (eight  and  one-half  feet 
high)  with  outstretched  wings,  supporting  a  semicircular 
sun-dial  dated  1578  ;  an  ass  playing  on  a  hurdy-gurdy  ;  and 
close  by,  on  the  next  buttress,  a  sow  spinning. 

The  North  Tower  {le  clocher  neuf)  after  being  burnt 
down  in  the  fire  of  1194,  was  rebuilt  in  similar  materials 
and  lasted  till  another  fire,  caused  by  lightning,  destroyed  it 
in  1506.  Jehan  de  Beauce  was  then  commissioned  by  the 
Chapter  to  build  the  tower  and  instructed  to  make  it  higher 
and  more  beautiful  than  it  had  been  before.     This  work 


246  CHARTRES  CATHEDRAL 

took  from  1507  to  15 13.  A  small  fire  broke  out  in  1674 
in  the  watcher's  room.  Since  that  time,  beyond  being 
carried  up  four  feet  higher  in  1690  by  Ange,  who  adorned 
the  top  with  a  bronze  vase,  the  tower  has  not  been  much 
interfered  with  till  1836,  when  the  ringing  chamber  and 
most  of  the  bells  were  destroyed  by  fire. 

Beginning  at  the  third  story,  where  Jehan  de  Beauce  also 
begins,  we  notice  first  outside  the  delicate  balustrade.  In 
the  tower  there  is  a  Pointed  window,  divided  into  two  parts 
by  a  clustered  pier.  The  tracery  is  Flamboyant.  In  1854 
the  cross  was  added.  On  the  top  of  the  cross  is  a  vane 
in  the  form  of  a  sun,  thus  forming  a  counterpart  to  the 
moon  on  the  other  spire. 

The  South  Porch  is  approached  by  a  grand  flight  of  steps 
and  though  only  about  six  and  one-half  feet  wider  than 
that  on  the  north  side,  seems  at  first  sight  to  be  very  much 
larger  altogether.  It  is  made  up  of  three  bays,  each  with 
a  pediment  containing  niches,  and  above  is  a  gallery  of 
large  statues.  This  porch  is  devoted  to  the  Glorification 
of  Christ  as  the  supreme  judge  of  all  things,  and  the  sub- 
ject is  therefore  the  Last  Judgment ;  and  of  the  many 
representations  of  this  awe-inspiring  theme,  this  porch  is 
one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  best.  Christ,  as  Judge,  with  the 
Apostles,  occupies  the  central  bay,  with  the  martyrs  on  His 
right  (the  left  bay)  and  the  confessors  on  His  left  (the  right 
bay),  together  with  nine  choirs  of  angels,  the  four  and 
twenty  elders  and  the  virtues  on  the  vaulting  and  on  the 
pillars. 

On  the  north  side  a  much  more  sombre  view  of  the 
building  will  be  seen  as  a  rule  except  on  fine  bright  even- 
ings rather  late  when  the  sun  has  got  round  to  the  north 
of  west. 


CHARTRES  CATHEDRAL  247 

The  North  Porch,  like  the  others,  is  a  mass  of  symbolic 
carvings  and  enrichments,  all  excellently  wrought,  and  is  one 
of  the  finest  specimens  of  its  date,  121 5-1 275.  Like  the 
other  porches,  too,  it  was  richly  painted  and  gilded,  and 
the  effect  must  have  been  gorgeous. 

The  central  bay  gives  the  key-note  to  the  whole  porch — - 
the  Glorification  of  the  Virgin  5  the  left-hand  bay  gives  her 
virtues,  the  chief  incidents  in  her  life  ;  while  the  right-hand 
bay  gives  us  various  Old  Testament  types  of  the  Virgin. 

"  Dependent  on  its  structural  completeness,  on  its  wealth 
of  well-preserved  ornament,  on  its  unity  in  variety,  perhaps 
on  some  undefinable  operation  of  genius,  beyond,  but  con- 
currently with,  all  these,  Chartres  has  still  the  gift  of  a 
unique  power  of  impressing.  In  comparison,  the  other 
famous  churches  of  France,  at  Amiens  for  instance,  at 
Reims,  or  at  Beauvais,  may  seem  but  formal,  and  to  a  large 
extent  reproducible,  effects  of  mere  architectural  rule  on  a 
gigantic  scale." 

The  above  quotation,  from  Walter  Pater's  Gaston 
Latour^  may  at  first  seem  an  exaggeration,  but  the  more 
carefully  the  place  is  studied  the  more  apparent  will  the 
truth  appear,  especially  to  those  who  have  seen  the  other 
churches  above  mentioned.  It  is  a  French  commonplace 
to  say  that  a  cathedral  composed  of  the  towers  of  Chartres, 
the  nave  of  Amiens,  the  choir  of  Beauvais  and  the  porch 
of  Reims  would  make  up  a  building  that  nothing  else  could 
possibly  surpass.  This  is  no  doubt  quite  true,  but  as  no 
such  ideal  building  exists,  or  is  ever  likely  to  exist,  Chartres 
can  only  be  fairly  compared  with  what  is  now  in  being. 
Granted  that  portions  of  it  are  less  fine  than  some  which 
can  be  found  elsewhere,  a  careful  study  of  the  fabric  as  a 
whole, — not  a  hurried  examination  made  while  the  fiacre  is 


248  CHARTRES  CATHEDRAL 

kept  at  the  door, — will  tend  to  produce  the  deliberate 
opinion  that  the  Cathedral  is  the  finest  in  France. 

The  Nave  (241  feet  long,  53]-^  feet  wide,  or  including 
the  aisles  109  feet,  I22_^  feet  high)  is  somewhat  short  in 
comparison  with  the  other  parts,  even  including  the  space 
between  the  two  western  towers,  being  only  thirty  feet 
longer  than  the  two  transepts  taken  together. 

In  width  the  nave  exceeds  all  the  cathedrals  of  France  or 
Germany,  being  nearly  four  feet  wider  than  the  nave  at 
Cologne,  or  that  at  Amiens. 

The  aisles  of  the  nave  are  twenty-five  and  one-fourth 
feet  in  width. 

The  nave  proper  consists  of  six  bays,  which  are  not  uni- 
form in  width,  the  narrowest  being  at  the  west  end  and  the 
widest  being  those  nearest  the  transepts, — the  total  differ- 
ence between  the  first  and  the  sixth  being  a  fraction  over 
three  feet. 

Of  the  existing  chapels  there  are  only  two  in  the  nave 
proper,  one  in  the  northwest  corner  within  the  space  covered 
by  the  walls  that  support  the  new  belfry,  and  the  other  in 
the  southwest  corner,  under  the  old  belfry.  The  former, 
dating  from  1837,  '^  dedicated  to  the  Seven  Sorrows^  and  is 
also  used  as  a  baptistery. 

The  altar-piece  has  for  its  subject  a  Pieta,and  is  attributed 
to  Carracci. 

The  chief  architectural  features  in  this  chapel  are  the 
capitals  of  the  piers. 

Immediately  opposite,  in  the  southwest  corner,  is  the 
Calvary  Chapel  first  used  in  1830.  It  contains  a  large 
cross  in  wood  of  no  merit,  dating  from  the  mission  of  1825. 

The  vaulting  of  the  whole  Cathedral  is  a  very  fine 
specimen  of  early  work.     The  main  ribs  of  the  vault  spring 


CHARTRES  CATHEDRAL  249 

from  or  are  rather  continuations  of  the  tall  clustered  pilasters, 
wliTch  are  themselves  continuations  of  the  main  piers ;  and 
from  the  points  where  each  of  the  main  ribs  rise,  two  other 
cross-ribs  also  spring.  These  at  their  points  of  intersection 
are  adorned  with  crown-shaped  bosses,  for  the  most  part  en- 
riched with  carvings  of  foliage,  coloured  in  part,  which  have 
been  marred  with  colour-wash.  Lines  in  imitation  of 
ashlar-work  have  been  painted  upon  the  vault. 

Fifty-two  detached  piers  and  forty  engaged  pilasters  sup- 
port the  weight  of  the  vaulting,  assisted  by  the  buttresses 
outside.  The  piers  in  the  nave  and  transepts  are  alternately 
cylindrical  and  octagonal  in  section.  The  cylindrical  piers 
have  smaller  octagonal  columns  and  the  octagonal  main 
piers  have  smaller  cylindrical  columns  apparently  almost 
detached,  but  in  reality  part  and  parcel  of  them.  The  piers 
in  the  nave  were  robbed  of  their  statues  by  the  sans-culottes 
in  1793.  They  are  said  to  have  been  seven  feet  in  height 
with  bases  and  canopies. 

In  the  ambulatory  of  the  choir  several  of  the  piers  are 
circular  in  section,  and  are  without  any  supplementary 
columns  j  these  have  octagonal  bases  and  square  plinths. 
'^"The  capitals  are  very  varied,  chiefly  drawn  from  the 
vegetable  kingdom,  somewhat  conventionalized,  but  always 
to  be  recognized.  In  feeling  they  suggest  a  modification  of 
the  type  known  as  Corinthian. 

At  the  crossing  four  enormous  piers,  of  which  each  face 
is  covered  with  a  mass  of  slender  columns,  rise  from  the 
nave  to  the  roof,  a  height  of  120  feet  without  a  break. 
These  piers  were  intended  to  bear  up  a  mighty  tower. 

The  triforium  which  runs  round  the  whole  of  the  build- 
ing differs  in  the  spacing  and  character  of  itsarcading  in  the 
different  portions.     In  the  nave  each  main  bay  consists  of 


250  CHARTRES  CATHEDRAL 

an  arcade  of  four  smaller  bays  of  Pointed  arches,  the  soffit 
of  which  is  flat  with  a  round  moulding  at  the  inner  and  the 
outer  edge.  The  capitals  are  richly  carved  with  foliage,  but 
the  bases  are  rather  severely  plain. 

In  the  transepts  there  are  five  bays  in  each  arcade  while 
in  the  choir  the  two  westernmost  bays  have  four  each,  fol- 
lowed by  three  bays  with  five  each,  and  finally  in  the  apse 
seven  bays  with  two  in  each. 

As  a  background  for  the  graceful  shafting  there  is  a  blank 
wall,  not,  as  in  many  other  French  churches,  a  series  of 
windows  glazed  with  coloured  glass. 

The  Clerestory  consists  of  tall  lancet  windows  arranged  in 
pairs,  each  twenty-two  feet  nine  inches  in  height  and  six  feet 
six  inches  wide,  with  a  rose  window  (twenty  feet  in  diameter) 
above,  filling  the  whole  of  the  available  space  in  the  bay. 

There  are  traditions  of  glass  existing  at  Chartres  as  early 
as  the  time  of  St.  Ive,  who  was  created  Bishop  in  1090,  but 
the  earliest  window  known  to  have  existed  in  the  Cathedral 
was  that  called  Notre  Dame  de  la  Belle  Verr'iere^  for  of  a 
window  so  described  mention  is  made  in  a  charter  of  1131. 
The  window  of  the  same  name  in  the  south  aisle  of  the  choir, 
second  bay  from  the  south  transept,  may  have  been  modelled 
upon  its  general  lines,  but  is  Thirteenth  Century  work. 

Chartres  is  the  locus  classicus  for  the  study  of  glass  of  that 
date.  Together  with  the  glass  the  ironwork,  where  original, 
must,  as  an  integral  part  of  the  window,  be  studied  with  care. 

In  the  western  rose  window  (Thirteenth  Century),  Christ, 
as  the  supreme  judge,  is  seated  on  a  throne  of  clouds,  sur- 
rounded with  an  aureole  quatrefoiled  in  character.  Blood 
is  represented  as  flowing  from  the  five  wounds  of  the 
Saviour,  who  is  surrounded  by  two  cherubim,  eight  angels, 
the  four   beasts  and  ten  apostles.     Above  are  the  instru- 


CHARTRES  CATHEDRAL  25  I 

ments  of  the  Passion  ;  four  angels  with  trumpets  herald  the 
Day  of  Judgment,  and  in  response  to  the  summons  the  dead 
are  issuing  from  their  graves.'  S.  Michael  is  seen  with  a 
balance  weighing  the  souls,  some  of  which  are  led  ofF  to 
Abraham's  bosom,']whiIe  those  who  are  found  wanting  are 
being  driven  off  to  a  very  vivid  helTT"^ 

The  masonry  is  a  chef-d^ oeuvre^  but  the  bold  and  vigorous 
workmanship  was  limited  somewhat  by  the  nature  of  the 
material,  a  stone  in  which  fine  cut  and  delicately-moulded 
tracery  would  be  impossible. 

Immediately  beneath  the  rose  window  are  three  Twelfth 
Century  windows  which  miraculously  escaped  destruction  in 
the  fire  of  1194,  and,  in  spite  of  cleaning  and  restoration, 
have  managed  to  retain  their  original  character  and  beauty. 

The  left-hand  window  represents  in  circular  panels  (the 
arrangement  of  which  is  rather  stiff  and  formal)  twelve  of 
the  chief  events  in  the  last  years  of  the  ministry  of  Christ  on 
earth  from  the  Transfiguration  to  the  meal  with  the  disciples 
at  Emmaus.  This  window,  like  that  at  Le  Mans,  is  some- 
what Byzantine  in  character.  The  absence  of  a  border  to 
the  window  increases  the  apparent  stiffness,  but  the  colour- 
ing is  superb,  the  large  broad  masses  of  clear  colour  so  char- 
acteristic of  Twelfth  Century  glass  being  especially  note- 
worthy. 

In  the  centre  window  (thirty-two  feet  ten  inches)  which 
consists  of  twenty-seven  panels  within  a  border,  we  have 
the  head  of  the  Virgin  and  the  Child,  and  below  twelve  of 
the  chief  events  in  the  Gospel  history  from  the  Annuncia- 
tion to  the  triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem.  The  border  to 
the  window  is  very  fine,  but  the  lower  portion  on  either 
side  does  not  seem  to  be  the  same  work  as  the  rest. 

On   the   right   is   a  Jesse  window  with   a  very  effective 


252  CHARTR2S  CATHEDRAL 

border.  Among  the  branches  are  four  kings,  then  the 
Virgin  and  Christ  with  the  seven  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
On  either  side  of  the  main  trunk  are  seven  prophets. 

Next  to  the  Choir  at  Laon  this  is  the  largest  in  France, 
measuring  as  it  does  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  feet  six 
inches,  by  fifty-three  feet  six  inches  in  width  and  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  feet  in  height  j  but  it  was  not  too  large 
for  the  pre-Revolution  ceremonies,  in  which  often  about 
two  hundred  priests,  deacons,  choristers,  attendants  and 
others  took  part  in  the  ordinary  services,  and  on  festival 
days  they  must  have  found  the  accommodation  insufficient 
consistently  with  comfort. 

The  apse  is  pierced  with  seven  large  windows,  forty-six 
feet  in  height.  The  subject  is  the  same  as  that  of  the 
north  rose  window — the  Glorification  of  the  Virgin.  In 
the  centre  light  are  represented  The  Annunciation,  The 
Visitation,  The  Divine  Motherhood  of  the  Virgin,  and, 
in  the  lower  part,  the  Bakers  bringing  offerings  of  loaves. 

Round  the  choir  is  a  screen  in  stonework  of  great  beauty 
as  a  whole,  though  it  is  in  places  marred  by  work  of 
varying  and  in  others  by  work  of  scarcely  any  interest. 
Quite  different  from  the  pourtoir  at  Amiens,  which  is 
painted,  or  from  that  at  Albi,  which  is  Flamboyant  in  style, 
this  screen  may  be  fairly  taken  as  the  finest  specimen  in 
France. 

One  distinguishing  feature  of  the  interior  is  the  absence 
of  any  memorials  to  the  dead,  and  the  reason  is,  that  no 
intramural  interment  has  ever  been  permitted  in  the  church, 
on  the  ground  that,  as  Rouillard  quaintly  expressed  it,  '-''Elle 
a  cettc  preeminence  que  d^  etre  la  couch e  ou  le  lit  de  la  Fierge" 

The  Labyrinth  or  Ueue  in  the  nave  at  Chartres  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  of  the  few  now  left  in  existence.     It  is 


CHARTRES  CATHEDRAL  253 

made  of  stones  of  two  colours,  the  white  stones  being 
thirteen  and  three-eighths  inches  in  width  and  the  blue  ones 
one  and  one-eighth.  On  the  former  were  engraved  the 
verses  of  Psalm  LI.  The  diameter  measures  forty  feet  six 
inches,  or,  including  the  border,  forty-two  feet,  and  this 
gives  a  lineal  surface  for  devotional  use  of  about  600  feet. 

It  is  not  known  what  were  the  rites  to  be  observed  in 
the  labyrinth.  Some  have  thought  the  track  when  piously 
followed  on  the  knees  was  a  practical  reminder  of  the  road 
which  Christ  was  forced  to  take  on  the  way  to  Calvary,  so 
that  the  stations  of  the  Cross  may  be  in  some  way  a  more 
comfortable  survival  of  these  labyrinthine  progresses. 
Others  have  thought  they  were  for  the  use  of  the  faithful 
who  could  not  go  to  the  Crusades,  but  who  could  at  any 
rate  pray  for  the  success  of  their  absent  friends. 

The  crypt  is  one  of  the  most  important  features  of  the 
building,  and  has  played  a  considerable  part  in  the  history 
of  the  fabric.  As  the  church  was  successively  built,  burned 
and  rebuilt,  so  was  the  crypt  successively  enlarged,  and  it  is 
now  the  largest  in  France,  and  the  third  largest  in  the 
world,  being  inferior  in  size  only  to  the  crypts  of  St.  Peter's 
at  Rome  and  of  Canterbury  Cathedral. 


ST.  PATRICK'S,  DUBLIN 

DEAN  BERNARD 

THE  existence  of  St.  Patrick  has  been  called  in  ques- 
tion by  some  writers,  but  there  is  no  room  for 
reasonable  doubt  as  to  the  main  facts  of  his  life,  although 
many  details  must  always  remain  obscure.  He  was  born 
about  the  year  372  possibly  near  Dunbarton  on  the  Clyde, 
but  the  place  of  his  birth  has  not  as  yet  been  identified  with 
certainty.  Carried  captive  at  an  early  age  by  Irish  raiders, 
he  served  as  a  slave  in  County  Antrim  for  seven  years. 
After  his  escape  he  went  to  Gaul  to  return  many  years  later 
as  a  missionary  to  Ireland.  He  landed  on  the  Wicklow 
coast,  but  soon  sailed  northward  as  far  as  Strangford  Lough, 
on  his  way  to  the  place  of  his  bondage  in  Antrim.  Tara 
was  the  scene  of  his  most  famous  encounter  with  Paganism, 
and  he  proceeded  thence  to  found  churches  in  Meath,  Con- 
naught,  and  Ulster,  establishing  among  others  the  church  of 
Armagh.  Turning  southward  again,  he  penetrated  through 
Meath  and  Kildare  as  far  as  Cashel.  His  death  took  place, 
most  probably  in  the  year  461,  at  Saul  near  Downpatrick. 

His  Confession  and  also  a  letter  to  a  British  chieftain, 
called  Coroticus,  are  extant ;  and  a  noble  hymn  or  incanta- 
tion in  an  archaic  form  of  Irish  is  attributed  to  him  by 
tradition. 

In  the  Fifth  Century  Dublin  was  a  small  village  situated 
beside  a  ford  or  bridge  of  hurdles  over  the  LifFey.  Insig- 
nificant a  place  as  was  Baile-ath-acliath,  "  the  Ford  of  the 
Hurdles,"  a  good  deal  of  traffic  must  have  passed  through 


ST.  PATRICK'S,  DUBLIN  255 

it,  for  it  was  on  the  main  road  from  Meath  to  Wicklow. 
We  know  that  St.  Patrick  founded  churches  within  twenty- 
five  miles  of  it  in  Meath,  Wicklow,  and  Kildare  j  and  it  is 
highly  probable  that  he  crossed  the  Liffey  at  this  point  on 
one  of  his  many  journeys.  But  the  earliest  explicit  state- 
ment of  a  visit  of  the  saint  to  Dublin  is  too  late  to  be  relied 
on  with  confidence.  The  monk  Jocelyn,  writing  in  the 
Twelfth  Century,  tells  that  Patrick  performed  notable 
miracles  here,  raising  from  the  dead  Eochaid  and  Dublinia, 
the  son  and  daughter  of  the  "  king  "  of  the  place.  This 
feat  made  so  deep  an  impression  on  the  inhabitants  that  the 
king  and  his  daughters  were  forthwith  baptized  at  a  well 
which  Jocelyn  describes  as  "  St.  Patrick's  Well  near  the 
city,  towards  the  south."  He  adds  that  a  church  was  built 
hard  by. 

The  existing  building  may  be  ascribed  to  the  years  1220 
to  1260;  and  the  elevation  of  St.  Patrick's  to  the  dignity  of 
a  cathedral  by  Archbishop  Henry  must  have  stimulated  the 
progress  of  the  work.  The  design  is  one  of  perfect  sym- 
metry and  simplicity,  being  that  of  a  Latin  cross  of  beauti- 
ful proportions.  The  church  consists  of  a  nave,  choir  and 
transepts,  all  of  which  have  aisles,  together  with  a  Lady 
Chapel.  The  existence  of  an  altar  of  St.  Mary  appears  in 
records  of  the  years  1235  and  1240;  but  the  tradition  that 
the  present  Lady  Chapel  is  due,  so  far  as  its  plan  is  con- 
cerned, to  Archbishop  Fulk  de  Saundford,  and  was  finished 
about  1270,  is  probably  true. 

The  site  is  so  extraordinarily  unsuitable  for  a  great  build- 
ing that  the  choice  of  it  calls  for  explanation.  The  Thir- 
teenth Century  builders  were  men  who  thoroughly  under- 
stood their  business ;  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  they  would 
not  have    dreamed  of   building  upon    the  marshes  of  the 


256  ST.   PATRICK"  S,  DUBLIN 

Poddle  River,  on  which  St.  Patrick's  stands,  had  they 
been  given  a  choice.  All  through  its  history  the  lack  of  a 
crypt  (impossible  in  such  a  situation),  and  the  moist  clay 
of  the  foundation  through  which  springs  perpetually  flow, 
have  been  injurious  to  the  fabric.  We  have  in  the  adop- 
tion of  this  site  another  argument,  if  such  is  needed,  es- 
tablishing the  belief  of  Dublin  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Thirteenth  Century  that  the  island  of  the  Poddle  River 
was  a  place  of  peculiar  sanctity  and  worthy  of  special 
veneration  in  virtue  of  its  association  with  the  name  of 
Patrick. 

The  history  of  the  cathedral  fabric  since  the  Thirteenth 
Century  is  not  easy  to  write  in  detail ;  but  we  have  suffi- 
cient material  to  assure  us  that  the  building  as  it  now  stands, 
although  it  has  undergone  more  than  one  "  restoration," 
presents  all  the  main  features  of  the  original  design. 

In  1316  the  spire  was  blown  down  by  a  violent  storm, 
and  in  the  same  year  the  church  was  set  on  fire  by  the  citi- 
zens v/ho  hoped  by  burning  the  suburbs  to  check  the  ap- 
proach of  Edward  Bruce,  brother  to  King  Robert  Bruce, 
whose  army  lay  encamped  as  near  as  Castleknock.  On 
this  occasion  the  Cathedral  was  robbed  of  many  of  its  treas- 
ures by  thieves,  who  took  advantage  of  the  panic  and  con- 
fusion. It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  any  irreparable 
damage  was  done. 

A  more  serious  fire  broke  out  in  1362  (as  tradition  says, 
"by  negligence  of  John  the  Sexton  ")  by  which  the  north- 
west end  of  the  nave  was  burnt.  There  is  extant  a  Petition 
to  the  Pope  from  Thomas  Minot,  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  of 
date  1363  "for  relaxation  of  seven  years  and  seven  quad- 
rageiic  of  enjoined  penance  to  those  who  lend  a  helping  hand 
to  the  repair  of  the  Church  of  St.  Patrick,  Dublin,  by  which 


ST.  PATRICK'S,  DUBLIN  ^57 

negligence  and  fire  has  so  greatly  suffered  that  the  tower  and 
bells  are  destroyed."  The  damage  was  made  good  by  the 
exertions  of  the  Archbishop,  who  employed  "  sixty  idle  and 
straggling  fellows  to  assist  in  repairing  the  church  and  re- 
building the  steeple."  The  four  western  bays  in  the  north 
aisle  of  the  nave,  which  are  loftier  and  wider  than  the  rest 
(for  what  reason  cannot  now  be  determined),  were  built 
about  this  time.  Minot's  great  work,  however,  was  the  con- 
struction of  the  noble  tower. 

An  interesting  architectural  feature  of  St.  Patrick's  is  the 
form  of  the  battlement  round  the  roof,  a  feature  which  it 
shares  with  several  other  Anglo-Irish  churches.  At  Kil- 
dare  Cathedral  there  is  a  somewhat  similar  passage  between 
the  slope  of  the  roof  and  the  battlements,  along  which,  there 
as  here,  it  is  possible  to  walk  round  the  church.  All  the 
turrets  are  crowned  with  a  crenellated  structure,  consisting 
of  two  or  three  steps  and  ending  in  an  acute  point  formed 
by  chamfering  off  the  outsides,  which  gives  the  effect  of  an 
inward  slope.  One  of  the  original  turrets  may  be  seen  on 
the  south  transept.  The  genuine  Irish  battlements  of  the 
turrets  at  the  west  end  have  at  some  time  had  late  gables 
added  to  their  crests.  The  southwest  porch  (the  usual 
entrance  to  the  Cathedral)  was  added  by  Sir  B.  L.  Guinness, 
who  also  constructed  the  public  road  which  leads  from  St. 
Sepulchre's  through  the  Close.  This  road  was  taken  out  of 
the  Dean's  garden.  The  heads  carved  as  the  terminals  of 
the  arch  over  the  southwestern  door  represent,  on  the  east 
side,  Dean  Pakenham,in  whose  time  the  Guinness  restoration 
was  begun,  and  on  the  west  side  Primate  James  Ussher,  the 
greatest  scholar  that  Ireland  has  produced  since  the  Middle 
Ages.  He  was  Chancellor  of  St.  Patrick's  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Seventeenth  Century. 


258  ST,  PATRICK'S,  DUBLIN 

The  west  door  was  renovated  about  183?..  The  great 
west  window  of  the  original  building  was  replaced  by  a  Per- 
pendicular window  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  which  was 
restored  by  Dean  Dawson  in  1830.  The  present  Early 
English  window  with  three  lights  took  its  place  during  the 
Guinness  restoration.  The  carved  heads  at  either  side  of 
the  door  represent  Deans  Dawson  (north)  and  Verschoyle 
(south).  The  arms  on  the  shield  next  the  tower  are  Dean 
Dawson's;  on  the  south  side  are  those  of  the  Cathedral. 
The  Decorated  window  at  the  west  end  of  the  north  aisle 
of  the  nave  remains  in  its  original  form. 

We  have  now  come  to  the  tower.  This  great  work  of 
Archbishop  Minot's  is  unrivalled  in  Ireland,  and  unsurpassed 
as  a  belfry  in  the  United  Kingdom.  It  stands  147  feet  in 
height  from  the  nave  floor  to  the  battlements,  and  is  thirty- 
nine  feet  square  at  the  base,  with  walls  ten  feet  thick  of  Irish 
limestone.  No  unskilled  labourers  like  those  of  whom  tra- 
dition speaks,  could  have  executed  such  solid  work,  and 
Minot  must  have  employed  as  foreman  the  best  masons  of 
his  time.  All  the  windows  are  insignificant,  except  in  the 
belfry  stage,  where  they  are  of  two  lights,  transomed  with 
simple  tracery.  The  granite  spire  (loi  feet  high)  which, 
although  incongruous  to  an  architect's  eye,  is  not  displeasing 
in  effect,  was  not  built  until  1749. 

The  dimensions  of  the  Cathedral,  which  is  the  largest 
church  in  Ireland,  are  as  follows:  from  the  west  end  to  the 
east  wall  of  the  Lady  Chapel  300  feet  external  measurement 
and  286  feet  internal  measurement;  length  of  nave  132  feet 
six  inches,  width  of  nave  (excluding  aisles)  and  of  the  choir, 
thirty  feet;  length  of  the  choir,  fifty-six  feet  six  inches; 
length  of  Lady  Chapel  fifty-five  feet ;  breadth  of  Lady 
Chapel,  thirty-five  feet ;  across  the  transepts,  156  feet  exter- 


ST.  PATRICK'S,  DUBLIN  259 

nal  measurement  and  144  feet  internal;  height  from  floor 
to  roof  in  the  nave  and  choir,  fifty-six  feet  three  inches. 
It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  floor  of  the  nave  was 
originally  four  inches  lower  than  the  present  level.  There 
are  eight  bays  on  each  side  of  the  nave,  four  in  the  choir 
and  three  in  each  transept. 

We  have  seen  that  few  of  the  original  architectural  de- 
tails have  survived,  so  far  as  the  exterior  of  the  building  is 
concerned.  The  interior,  sadly  neglected  as  it  was  for  cen- 
turies, has  fared  better,  and  presents  much  of  interest  to  the 
student  of  architecture.  The  Early  English  piers  of  the 
nave  are  octagonal,  having  eight  attached  and  filleted  shafts 
with  carved  capitals.  Originally  these  piers  had  shafts  on 
the  cardinal  faces  only,  those  on  the  north  and  south  being 
the  vaulting  shafts  of  the  nave  and  aisle.  The  four  inter- 
mediate faces  are  slightly  hollowed  to  receive  the  shafts 
which  carry  the  outer  order  of  the  arch  mouldings.  The 
piers  and  arches  are  built  of  Somersetshire  stone  with  a  core 
of  Irish  limestone.  The  casing  of  Caen  stone  was  added 
during  the  Pakenham  and  Guinness  restorations. 

The  three  piers  on  the  north  side  nearest  the  west  end 
and  the  respond  were  built  by  Archbishop  Minot  in  the  Four- 
teenth Century  when  this  part  of  the  church  was  burnt. 

The  nave  roof  is  a  restoration  of  1863;  the  ribs  are  of 
good  stone,  but  the  vaulting  cells  are  filled  in  with  lath  and 
plaster  only,  as  the  old  walls  were  deemed  too  weak  to  sus- 
tain a  greater  weight.  The  crossing  is  ancient,  the  four 
beautiful  arches  and  stone  roof  having  been  lately  repaired, 
but  not  altered  in  any  detail.  The  original  groining  is  only 
to  be  seen  here  in  the  north  and  south  aisles  of  the  choir,  in 
the  aisles  of  the  south  transept,  and  in  part  of  the  south 
aisle  of  the  nave. 


260  ST,   PATRICK'S,  DUBLIN 

As  we  come  into  the  nave  we  see  the  old  colours  of 
various  Irish  regiments  hanging  on  the  walls.  The  west 
window  by  Wailes  of  Newcastle  represents  various  scenes 
in  St.  Patrick's  life  ;  but  the  treatment  is  not  bold  enough. 
The  great  monument  against  the  south  wall  is  "  the  very 
famous,  sumptuous,  glorious  tombe  "  of  black  marble  and 
alabaster,  erected  by  Richard  Boyle,  first  Earl  of  Cork,  in 
163 1,  in  memory  of  his  second  wife.  In  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  nave  will  be  seen  the  old  wooden  pulpit  which 
was  used  in  the  time  of  Swift,  and  from  which  he  preached. 


SOISSONS  CATHEDRAL 

L.  CLOQUET 

THE  age  of  the  church  of  St.  Gervais  of  Soissons  is 
carved  on  one  of  its  stones  :     "  In  1212,  the  canons 
began  to  come  into  this  choir." 

This  edifice,  a   diminutive  of  Notre  Dame  of  Amiens, 
the  first  of  cathedrals  of  the  second  order,  is  admirable  in 
its  purity  of  line  :  it  marks  the  transitional  Romanesque 
Gothic,  the  blossoming   of  the   vault   ribbed   with  certain 
complications  which  it  was  soon  going  to  get  rid  of.     The 
plan  of  this  basilica  presents  a  remarkable  peculiarity  in  the 
extremely  elegant  hemicycle,  furnished  with  aisles,  galleries 
and  a  triforium,  which  terminates  one  arm  of  its  transept, 
and   connects  it,  together   with  Noyon,  with  the  Roman- 
esque school,  of  which   Tournay   seems  to  have  been  the 
centre.     This  is  a   very  rich  plan,  with  its  thirteen  apsidal 
chapels.     Nowhere  has  the  Gothic  style  produced  anything 
more  graceful.     In  the  interior,  the  width  of  the  naves  and 
the  refined  lines  of  the  ribs  of  the  vaults  tend  towards  per- 
fection  from  the  very   first   appearance  of  the  new  style, 
giving  it  an  entirely  individual  character.     The  proportions 
of  the  choir  are  bold.     From  the  chancel  radiate  five  great 
polygonal  chapels,  and  eight  square  ones,  lighted  by   im- 
mense windows,  opening  into  the  sides  of  the  choir.     The 
nave    is   lighted   by  Thirteenth   Century  grisaille  windows 
of  rare  interest :    a  rose  window  is  pierced  in  the  north 
transept. 


262  SOISSONS  CATHEDRAL 

The  double  flying-buttresses  are  beautiful  in  line,  al- 
though they  are  among  the  first  that  were  frankly  intro- 
duced into  the  Gothic  system.  "  The  structure  of  this 
edifice,"  says  L.  Gonse,  "  though  somewhat  cold  in  aspect, 
is  combined  with  rare  skill :  the  play  of  resistances  is  treated 
with  the  hand  of  a  master,  and  the  design  of  the  double  fly- 
ing arches  is  excellent.  The  proportions  of  the  choir  are 
bold  and  monumental.  In  the  interior,  the  distinction  of 
this  fine  construction  is  the  spring  of  the  archings  and  the 
width  of  the  naves.  There  are  few  churches  in  which  the 
light  is  diffused  more  freely  and  abundantly." 

The  transept  is  one  of  the  finest  examples  of  the  trans- 
ition. Begun  in  1175,  its  five  bays  are  provided  with 
aisles  ;  it  is  terminated  by  the  above-mentioned  remarkable 
apse  ;  and,  leading  into  it  at  the  southeast  angle,  is  a  polyg- 
onal chapel,  a  chapel  of  remarkable  construction  and  rav- 
ishing ornamentation.  It  is  surmounted  by  a  story  which 
in  ancient  days  served  for  a  treasury.  Above  the  aisles  is 
an  elegant  gallery  surmounted  by  a  triforium  and  a  beauti- 
ful clerestory. 

The  pentagonal  sanctuary  is  surrounded  by  an  ambula- 
tory flanked  with  compartments  and  with  five  apsidal  chapels. 
The  style  of  the  choir  is  reproduced  in  the  naves.  The 
transept,  restored  in  the  Fourteenth  Century,  in  certain 
parts  presents  the  elegant  but  sometimes  exuberant  charac- 
teristics of  the  flowered  Gothic  style.  The  north  wall  is 
covered  by  a  network  tracery  that  seems  to  divide  it  into 
four  bays  ;  a  magnificent  rose  of  twelve  petals  crowns  the 
immense  window. 

Viewed  from  outside  the  chancel,  the  Cathedral  presents 
an  imposing  c<?z//)  ^  o"// with  its  double  buttresses  and  super- 
posed flying  arches.     The  clerestory  windows  are  framed 


SOISSONS  CATHEDRAL 


SOISSONS  CATHEDRAL  263 

with  a  dripstone  enriched  with  rosettes  resting  on  modil- 
lions  with  human  masks.  The  cornice  is  decorated  with 
leaf  volutes. 

The  arum,  the  vine  and  the  fern  predominate  in  the 
carvings. 

The  door  in  the  north  transept  that  opens  towards  the 
east,  surmounted  by  a  frieze  of  floral  work  and  a  rose 
window  of  six  petals  accompanied  by  quatrefoils,  framed 
by  colonnettes  and  vaultings,  is  one  of  the  most  delicate 
bits  of  the  edifice. 

To  the  northwest  of  the  Cathedral  stands  the  ancient 
canonical  cloister,  in  which  is  the  immense  hall  of  the 
Chapter,  divided  into  two  naves.  This  part  of  the  capit- 
ulary buildings,  recently  restored,  is  one  of  the  most  per- 
fect monuments  of  this  kind  to  be  found  anywhere. 


TOURNAY  CATHEDRAL 

FREDERIC  G.   STEPHENS 

IN  1053  Tournay  was  devastated  by  the  Emperor  Henry 
III.;  fire  destroyed  the  upper  part  of  the  Cathedral  in 
1054 ;  after  this  the  seven  towers  were  built.  The  nave  was 
dedicated  in  1066 ;  it  has  now  a  semicircular  arched  roof, 
but,  according  to  M.  Schayes,  this  was  placed  in  the 
Eighteenth  Century  (1777)".  before  that  time  the  roof  was 
flat  and  of  wood,  and  doubtless  of  the  character  exhibited 
by  those  still  existing  at  Peterborough  and  Norwich  Ca- 
thedrals. The  vaulting  of  the  aisles  is  Romanesque.  The 
transept  was  erected  about  1146;  at  least,  such  was  doubt- 
less the  case  with  regard  to  its  magnificent  apsidal  ends. 
The  choir,  which  is  larger  than  the  nave,  was  dedicated  in 
1338,  when  the  western  porch  was  placed  where  the  nave 
until  then  terminated  in  a  gable;  some  portions  of  the  old 
west  front  remain  in  the  sealed  doorways  of  the  aisles. 
The  existing  choir  replaced  that  which  pertained  to  the 
Romanesque  portion  of  the  edifice  and  had  a  semicircular 
apse,  like  the  ends  of  the  transept;  the  church  was  there- 
fore triapsal.  Over  the  crossing  there  was  originally  a 
gigantic  square  tower,  which  formed  a  group  with  six 
minor  towers  that  were  placed  at  the  angles  of  the  transept 
and  choir ;  the  towers  which  stood  to  the  east  of  the  great 
central  one  were  removed  with  the  ancient  choir.  The 
five  remaining  towers  and  the  reduced  central  one,  form  a 
magnificent  assemblage,  the  obtusely-pointed  roofs  of  which 


TOURNAY  CATHEDRAL  265 

are  visible  far  and  wide  over  the  country.  When  the 
seven  towers  stood  all  together,  and  the  central  one  had  its 
original  altitude,  the  group  was  unrivalled  beyond  all  com- 
parison in  Europe.  The  famous  Apostles'  Church  at 
Cologne  did  not  approach  it.  Even  the  remains  are  im- 
posing to  modern  eyes — so  vast  is  the  height  of  the  minor 
towers,  so  bulky  is  the  central  one. 

This  Cathedral  in  its  interior  presents  to  the  student  a 
most  effective  combination  of  three  styles.  We  have 
severe  and  sombre  Romanesque  in  the  nave;  magnificent 
chastity  of  expression  and  what  may  be  styled  pure 
architecture  in  the  transept ;  when  we  enter  the  choir,  how- 
ever, it  is  to  be  transported  into  another  world  and  stage  of 
society.  From  where  all  was  grave,  dignified,  self-centred 
and  self-restrained,  impressive  without  heaviness  and  vast 
without  monotony,  we  are  suddenly  removed  to  an  expan- 
sive structure  that  is  blazing  with  light  and  has  its  windows 
filled  with  stained  glass,  divided  from  each  other  by  the 
most  slender  piers  and  having  mullions  like  rods.  A 
triforium  of  the  most  elegant  kind  takes  the  place  of  the 
dim  and  vast  gallery  of  the  nave ;  enormous  clerestories 
supply  that  of  the  dim  arcades  which  surmount  the  gallery 
of  the  latter  and  the  aisles  beneath  it  and  give  an  awful 
solemnity  to  the  western  half  of  the  building.  The  latter 
is  Egyptian  in  its  grandeur,  impressive  in  every  feature,  al- 
most void  of  ornament,  and  seemingly  indestructible  by 
time ;  the  former  startles  the  spectator  by  its  lightness  and 
the  audacity  of  the  builder  of  those  fairy  piers,  which  have 
bent  into  two  curves,  one  inwards  and  one  outwards,  and 
are  hardly  able  to  bear  the  roof. 

The  noble  view  of  the  interior  of  Tournay  Cathedral, 
which   is  obtainable   from   the  western   doors,  derives   no 


266  TOURNAY  CATHEDRAL 

small  part  of  its  charm  from  the  skilful  manner  in  which 
the  effect  of  light  and  shadow  has  been  produced  by  the 
use  of  stained  glass  in  the  choir,  which,  although  raw  and 
crude,  is  effective,  as  a  whole,  as  it  could  not  help  being ; 
so  that,  looking  along  the  dimly-lighted  nave,  the  eye  takes 
in  the  eastern  expanse,  which  is  filled  with  mysteriously- 
hued  and  softened  light,  that — spreading  behind  the  group 
of  Michael  defeating  Satan,  which  is  of  dark  bronze  and 
raised  above  the  screen — aids  the  aspect  of  the  whole  in  a 
singularly  effective  manner.  On  a  close  approach  to  this 
screen,  which  is  the  work  of  Floris  of  Antwerp,  1566,  and 
not  without  a  low  sort  of  merit  of  its  own,  the  incongruity 
of  its  style  with  that  of  the  building  is  painfully  evident. 
The  group  of  Michael  and  Satan  is  the  work  of  Lecreux 
of  Tournay.  The  ancient  cross  above  the  screen  was  des- 
troyed about  1 8 16. 

The  ancient  choir  was  ninety-eight  feet  long  ;  the  ex- 
isting choir  was  begun  by  Bishop  Walter  de  Marvis  about 
1219  ;  the  works  were  carried  on  until  1325  and  consecrated 
in  1338.  The  aisles  of  the  choir,  ambulatories,  or  carolles 
as  they  are  called  here,  are  extremely  broad  and  have  a 
magnificent  effect.  The  pillars  of  the  chevet^  or  radiating 
arcade,  immediately  adjoining  the  altar,  were  originally  so 
extremely  slender  that  about  1435  it  was  found  necessary 
to  strengthen  them,  a  process  which  was  effected  by  some 
sacrifice  of  their  original  grace.  The  triforium  is  lighted 
by  quatrefoils  formed  behind  the  heads  of  its  tracery.  The 
piers  of  the  chancel  are  eighty-six  feet  in  height;  its 
clerestory  is  composed  of  nineteen  windows. 

On  the  wall  of  one  of  the  chapels  of  the  ambulatory  is  a 
painting  with  a  gold  ground,  representing  the  Triumph  of 
Deaths  so  frequent  a  subject  in  the  period  when  it  was  ex- 


TOURNAY  CATHEDRAL  267 

ecuted,  /.  e.^  the  Thirteenth  Century.  Parallel  to  the 
north  nave  aisle  is  a  very  large  chapel  or  parish  church,  said 
to  have  been  built  by  Henry  VIII.  of  England  during 
Wolsey's  occupation  of  the  See  of  Tournay  (1513—1518); 
its  style  is  rather  "  earlier  "  than  we  are  accustomed  to 
associate  with  buildings  of  that  period.  Among  the  pictures 
that  may  be  worth  notice  is  a  Purgatory  by  Rubens  and  an 
Adoration  of  the  Magi^  by  Lucas  van  Leyden. 

There  is  a  great  rose  window  in  the  west  end  filled  with 
modern  stained  glass — not  a  fortunate  addition.  The  sub- 
jects of  the  paintings  are  the  Virgin  and  Child  surrounded 
concentrically  by  figures  of  angels,  prophets,  the  seasons 
and  zodiacal  signs.  Beneath  this  is  the  organ-loft,  appar- 
ently of  the  same  date  as  the  screen.  On  the  wall  of  the 
transept,  high  up,  appear  the  remains  of  the  original  paint- 
ing of  the  Cathedral ;  figures  of  saints  are  depicted  in 
panels,  one  above  the  other,  a  characteristic  Romanesque 
manner  of  decoration.  In  a  side  chapel  of  the  nave  is 
some  early  Sixteenth  Century  glass,  good  of  its  kind.  By 
the  side  of  the  altar  stands  the  splendid  shrine  of  St. 
Eleutherius,  elected  bishop  of  the  city  in  486,  a  member  of 
a  family  converted  by  St.  Piat,  a  century  and  a  half  before 
his  birth.  By  his  exertions  the  faith  which  had  begun  to 
die  out  in  the  neighbourhood  was  revived. 

The  sculptures  on  the  outside  of  the  north  and  south 
doorways  of  this  Cathedral  are  extremely  curious ;  above 
the  door  they  are  comprised  in  a  blank  semicircular  arch, 
which  is  enclosed  in  another  arch  formed  by  three  curves 
to  the  shape  of  a  trefoil ;  the  central  curve  of  the  latter 
being  higher  than  the  other  two  is  formed  by  two  curves 
which,  meeting  in  a  point,  produce  the  true  ogive  ;  the 
jambs  beneath  these  are  also  richly  carved.     The  general 


268  TOURNAY  CATHEDRAL 

subjects  are  described  by  M.  de  Renaud  as  representing, 
under  many  satirical  and  grotesque  forms,  the  Norman 
destroyers  of  Tournay.  Among  the  sculptures  on  the 
jambs  of  the  north  doorway  we  observe  the  devil  bearing 
off  a  man  who  is  dressed  in  embroidered  vestments  and  has 
a  bag  hanging  round  his  neck  and  wears  a  helmet.  The 
man  is  astride  of  the  devil's  neck,  and  holds  to  his  horns ; 
his  legs  appear  in  front  of  the  strange  supporter  and  are 
clasped  by  that  personage  with  one  hand,  while  with  the 
other  the  latter  gives  his  own  tail  a  twitch.  Above  this  is 
an  angel  and  below  it  the  convolved  serpent  so  common  in 
Romanesque  work  and  of  obvious  signification. 

At  each  external  angle  of  the  transept  stands  a  lofty 
tower ;  that  on  the  southeast,  which  is  named  La  Tour  de 
Marie  Pontoise,  is  a  noble  specimen  of  pure  Romanesque 
design  ;  the  others  are  of  somewhat  later  date  and  transi- 
tional character.  These  towers  are  about  250  feet  in 
height,  built  in  stages,  slightly  diminishing  upwards  and 
capped  by  an  obtuse  pyramid  of  evidently  later  date  than 
the  structures  beneath  them. 


LE  MANS  CATHEDRAL 

AUGUSTUS  J.   C.  HARE 

THE  Cathedral  of  S.  Julien,  founded  in  the  Fourth 
Century  and  rebuilt  in  the  Sixth  Century  by  S. 
Innocent,  was  again  rebuilt  in  834  by  S.  Aldric.  In  1060 
the  famous  architect-bishop  Vulgrin  began  a  new  edifice, 
dedicated  c.  1095,  but  altered  in  1120  by  Hildebert,  who 
added  two  lofty  towers.  Soon  after,  it  was  greatly  injured 
by  fire,  but  was  consecrated  in  1158.  The  existing  nave 
belongs  to  this  building  of  the  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Cen- 
turies, but  the  vast  choir  was  an  addition  of  1217-54;  only 
the  transept  and  tower  belong  to  the  Fifteenth  Century. 
Part  of  the  ancient  rampart  was  destroyed  for  the  sake  of 
the  apse. 

The  west  facade  belongs  to  the  Eleventh  Century  ex- 
cept the  dividing  buttresses  and  the  gables.  Its  great  win- 
dow retains  much  ancient  glass  relating  to  the  story  of  S. 
Julien.  The  sumptuous  side  door  of  the  Twelfth  Cen- 
tury, ornamented  with  statues  like  those  of  Chartres,  is  pre- 
ceded by  a  porch. 

"  The  capitals,"  says  Lubke,  "  are  executed  in  the  most  ele- 
gant and  freest  Corinthian  style  ;  even  the  coping  stones  are 
covered  with  the  most  graceful  branch-work,  and  the  shafts 
of  the  columns  on  which  the  figures  stand,  as  at  Chartres, 
are  rich  with  varied  designs.  All  the  rest  is  devoted  to 
isolated  works  of  sculpture.  On  the  capitals  there  stand 
ten  stiff  columnar  figures  in  antique  drapery,  variously  ar- 


270  LE  MANS  CATHEDRAL 

ranged  but  exhibiting  throughout  the  same  parallel  folds 
and  with  heads  and  limbs  stiff  and  constrained.  Yet  even 
here,  in  the  slender  proportions,  and  still  more  in  the  type 
of  the  heads,  the  strong  presentment  of  a  new  life  is  per- 
ceptible, though  still  too  dependent  on  the  architecture. 
We  recognize  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  and  other  saints,  and 
finally  kings  and  queens,  all  full  of  youth,  and,  in  spite  of 
the  severe  style  of  conception,  inbued  with  a  breath  of  grace 
and  feeling.  In  a  small  colonnade,  above  the  door,  are 
seated  the  twelve  apostles — short,  heavy,  stunted  figures. 
In  the  arched  compartment  above,  solemn  and  severe,  is  the 
enthroned  figure  of  Christ,  with  the  four  symbols  of  the 
Evangelists,  again  displaying  violent  gestures — a  recurring 
trait  of  the  plastic  art  of  the  period,  which  in  its  naive  way 
endeavoured  by  vehement  action  to  indicate  the  divine  in- 
spiration of  the  Evangelists.  Lastly,  all  the  four  archivolts 
surrounding  the  tympanum  are  covered  with  sculptures ;  in 
the  centre,  angels,  swinging  vessels  of  incense,  form  a  circle 
round  the  figure  of  the  Redeemer;  in  the  outer  circles  the 
whole  history  of  the  Life  of  Christ  is  depicted  in  distinct 
and  simple  relief,  and  in  a  quaint  and  lifelike  manner." 

In  the  interior  the  nave  has  the  peculiarity  of  having  five 
bays  in  the  central  and  ten  in  the  side  aisles,  which  are  of 
extreme  simplicity.  The  transept  is  much  loftier  than  the 
nave.  The  lower  portions  are  of  the  Twelfth  Century. 
The  north  wall  has  a  magnificent  rose  window,  the  com- 
partments of  which  are  slightly  Flamboyant,  whilst  its  glass 
contains  124  subjects,  some  of  them  of  great  historical  in- 
terest. At  the  end  of  the  south  transept  is  the  only  tower 
of  the  Cathedral,  Romanesque  on  the  ground  and  first  floors, 
but  of  the  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  Centuries  above,  with  a 
modern  dome.     The  choir  (1217)  is  of  the  very  best  period 


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LE  MANS  CATHEDRAL,  27! 

of  Gothic  architecture,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  double  aisle 
and  thirteen  radiating  chapels. 

"  In  passing  from  the  nave  into  the  choir,"  says  Prosper 
Merimee,  "  the  impression  is  as  if  you  left  the  temple  of  an 
ancient  religion  to  enter  one  of  a  new  cult.  These  capitals 
covered  with  monsters,  fantastic  animals  and  hideous 
masques  seem  the  ornaments  of  a  barbaric  faith,  while  the 
foliage  varied  in  a  thousand  ways  and  these  windows  with 
harmonious  colours  give  a  feeling  of  a  gentle  and  watchful 
belief." 

The  glorious  windows  of  the  choir  are  filled  with  mag- 
nificent glass  of  the  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Centuries. 
The  windows  of  the  side  aisle  are  occupied  by  the  legends 
of  the  saints — Evron,  Calais,  Theophile,  Eustache — espe- 
cially venerated  at  Mans.  In  one  of  these  windows  is  a  cu- 
rious portrait  inscribed  "  Senebaldus,"  of  Pope  Innocent  IV. 
(Sinibaldo  Fieschi).  The  sixth  (triangular)  window  repre- 
sents a  Sire  de  Pirmil,  the  seventh  probably  the  Sire  de  la 
Guierche,  Governor  of  Maine  under  S.  Louis.  The 
clerestory  windows  are  occupied  by  great  figures  of  S. 
Matthew,  S.  Andrew,  S.  Luke,  David,  Isaac,  Moses,  then 
the  Apostles,  and  finally  S.  Bertram,  founder  of  the  Abbey 
of  La  Couture — these  windows  being  the  gift  of  an  abbot  of 
La  Couture  of  the  family  of  Cormes.  The  series  of 
apostles  is  continued  in  the  fourth  great  window,  signed 
Odon  de  Coulonge,  with  the  inscription  La  Verrine  des 
Drapiers^  and  the  members  of  that  corporation  are  repre- 
sented in  it.  Then,  in  the  fifth  lancet  are  S.  Paul  and 
Aaron,  signed  for  the  furriers  of  Mans  ;  the  sixth,  represent- 
ing SS.  Stephen,  Vincent,  Gervais  and  Protais,  was  given  by 
the  innkeepers  and  publicans.  The  seventh,  or  apsidal 
window,  contains  the  Madonna  and   Child  and  the  Cruci- 


272  LE  MANS  CATHEDRAL 

fixion,  beneath  which  is  the  prayer  of  Bishop  Geoffroy  de 
London  (1254),  offering  the  window  to  God;  his  arms  are 
repeated  in  the  border.  The  eighth  great  window,  signed, 
represents  the  architects  of  the  Cathedral.  With  the  ninth 
window  begins  a  series  of  the  sainted  bishops  of  Mans, 
characterized  by  the  nimbi  round  their  heads  and  inscrip- 
tions beneath.  The  tenth  window  is  inscribed  La  Ferriere 
Ecles^  and  was  given  by  the  clergy  of  the  church.  The 
very  curious  eleventh  window  commemorates  the  players  at 
tric-trac,  who  consecrated  their  gains  to  it.  The  thirteenth, 
signed  by  the  bakers  of  Mans,  represents  its  donors  at 
work.  All  these  windows  are  of  the  middle  of  the  Thir- 
teenth Century.  The  remains  of  glass  of  the  Eleventh 
Century  are  the  most  ancient  known. 

The  first  choir  chapel  on  the  right  contains  a  curious 
(early  Seventeenth  Century)  terra  cotta  S.  Sepulchre,  restored 
from  injuries  received  from  a  mad  workman.  The  double 
(Fourteenth  Century)  door  leading  to  the  Psallette,  with  a 
figure  of  S.  Julien  in  the  tympanum ;  and  the  door  of  the 
sacristy,  formed  from  fragments  of  a  destroyed  ywiii?,  erected 
by  the  Cardinal  de  Luxembourg  in  1620,  deserve  notice.  In 
the  left  aisle  are  Sixteenth  Century  tapestries,  representing 
the  legends  of  S.  Julien  and  SS.  Gervais  and  Protais.  In 
the  baptistery  (first  choir  chapel  on  left)  are  the  tombs 
of  Charles  Comte  du  Maine,  1472  (Renaissance)  and  Guil- 
laume  de  Langey  du  Bellay,  viceroy  of  Piedmont  under 
Francois  I.,  and  brother  of  Cardinal  du  Bellay,  Bishop 
of  Mans,  1543. 

In  the  right  transept,  removed  from  the  choir,  is  the  very 
interesting  Thirteenth  Century  tomb  of  Queen  Berengaria 
of  England,  daughter  of  Sancho  VI.  of  Navarre  and  wife  of 
Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  (celebrated  in  Scott's  Talisman)^  to 


LE  MANS  CATHEDRAL  273 

whom  she  was  married  at  Limasol  by  his  chaplain  Nicolas^ 
afterwards  Bishop  of  Le  Mans.  After  Richard's  death  she 
hved  much  at  Le  Mans,  which  was  part  of  her  dower. 
The  statue  is  one  of  the  most  lifelike  of  its  period  with 
open  eyes. 

"  The  drapery  flows  down  in  wide  folds,  the  noble 
head  is  antiquely  grand,  the  hands  are  holding  a  small 
casket,  and  the  feet  rest  on  a  dog,  the  emblem  of  fidelity  " 
(LUbke). 

Against  the  first  pillar  on  the  left  of  the  nave  formerly 
stood  the  tomb  of  GeofFroi  Plantagenet,  Comte  du  Maine 
et  d'  Anjou,  son-in-law  of  Henry  I.  and  father  of  Henry  H. 
of  England.  This  interesting  monument  was  entirely 
destroyed  by  the  Huguenots  in  1562,  except  the  enamelled 
portrait  attached  to  the  second  pillar  after  the  destruction  of 
the  tomb.  Having  been  taken  down  for  security  in  the 
Revolution,  it  is  now  preserved  in  the  Musee,  for  which  it 
was  purchased  from  the  collection  of  an  amateur. 

At  the  southwest  angle  of  the  Cathedral  is  a  large  Peulven^ 
four  and  one-half  metres  in  height,  leaning  against  the 
facade. 

1  Menhir,  a  kind  of  rude  obelisk. 


CANTERBURY   CATHEDRAL 

FRANCIS  BOND 

THE  metropolitan  Cathedral  of  Canterbury  owes  its 
enthralling  interest  to  its  vastness  of  scale,  its  wealth 
of  monuments,  its  treasures  of  early  glass,  the  great  historical 
scenes  that  have  been  enacted  within  its  walls — above  all,  to 
the  greatest  of  all  historical  tragedies  to  the  mind  of  the 
Mediaeval  Englishman,  the  murder  of  Becket.  It  does  not 
owe  its  distinction  to  its  architecture.  Whole  building 
periods  are  almost  wholly  unrepresented  ;  for  the  century 
and  a  half  when  English  design  was  at  its  best,  the  Canter- 
bury authorities  slumbered  and  slept.  What  we  have  is  the 
result  of  two  periods  only,  with  some  scraps  incorporated 
from  earlier  Norman  work.  What  is  there  is  not  of  the 
best :  the  Perpendicular  work  can  be  bettered  at  Gloucester, 
Winchester,  and  York  j  the  work  in  the  choir,  a  foreign 
importation,  is  not  equal  to  that  of  its  prototype,  the  French 
Cathedral  of  Sens.  We  have  many  heterogeneous  cathedrals 
in  England.  In  the  rest  there  is  ever  an  attempt,  usually  a 
successful  attempt,  as  at  Hereford,  and  Gloucester  and 
Wells  to  weld  the  conflicting  elements  of  the  design  into 
symmetry  and  harmony.  Canterbury  scornfully  declines 
any  attempt  at  composition.  Transepts  and  turrets  and 
pinnacles  are  plumped  down  anyhow  and  anywhere  ;  to  the 
east  it  finishes  abruptly  in  the  ruined  crags  of  a  vast  round 
tower ;  to  the  west  the  towers  of  its  facade  were,  till  lately, 
as  incongruous  in  character  as  in  date.    Externally,  the  lofty 


CANTERBURY  CATHEDRAL  275 

central  tower  alone  gives  some  unity  to  the  scattered 
masses ;  internally,  it  is  an  assemblage  of  distinct  and  dis- 
cordant buildings. 

I.  Norman. — Of  the  pre-Conquest  cathedrals  of  Canter- 
bury nothing  remains  unless  it  be  fragments  of  rude  masonry 
in  crypt  and  cloister.  Of  Lanfranc's  Cathedral,  built  to- 
gether with  the  Benedictine  monastery  between  1070  and 
1077,  there  remains  the  plinth  of  the  walls  of  nave  and 
transept.  In  the  north  transept  some  of  his  small  square 
blocks  of  Caen  stone  are  well  seen  just  above  the  site  of 
the  martyrdom,  as  well  as  his  turret  in  the  northwest  corner. 
His  nave  was  allowed  to  stand  till  the  Fifteenth  Century. 
The  present  nave  and  central  transept  are  built  on  Lan- 
franc's foundations. 

Of  "  Conrad's  glorious  choir "  (it  was  commenced  by 
Prior  Ernulph  c.  1096  and  finished  c.  1115  by  Prior  Con- 
rad), a  considerable  amount  remains.  The  round-arched 
work  in  the  crypt  is  all  of  this  date,  except  the  carving  of 
many  of  the  capitals,  which  was  executed  later;  and  from 
the  extent  of  his  crypt  one  can  plot  out  the  exact  shape  and 
dimensions  of  the  Norman  choir.  Much  of  it  is  seen  out- 
side especially  in  and  near  the  southeast  transept  with  its 
intersecting  semicircular  arcades,  and  the  most  charming 
little  Norman  tower  imaginable.  In  the  interior  many 
Norman  stones  "  cross-hatched,"  may  be  seen  in  the  aisle- 
wall  immediately  after  entering  the  choir-aisle  by  the  flight 
of  steps ;  the  lower  part  of  the  vaulting-shaft  in  this  wall 
built  of  several  stones  and  not  of  solid  drums,  as  it  is  higher 
up,  is  also  Norman.  In  the  eastern  transept  the  triforium 
occurs  twice  over;  the  upper  of  the  two  was  Conrad's 
clerestory.  Much  of  Conrad's  semicircular  arcade  also 
remains  on  the  aisle-walls. 


276  CANTERBURY  CATHEDRAL 

II.  Transitional. — But  "  Conrad's  glorious  choir  "  was 
destroyed  by  a  great  fire  in  the  year  11 74,  amid  much  Medi- 
aeval cursing  and  swearing  and  the  tears  of  all  the  people 
of  Canterbury.  Then  the  monks  did  an  abominable  thing. 
Instead  of  being  satisfied  with  our  home-bred  English  archi- 
tecture, of  which  such  a  beautiful  example  was  being  com- 
pleted at  Ripon,  they  sent  for  a  foreigner.  The  present 
choir  of  Canterbury,  like  that  of  Westminster,  was  "  made 
in  France."  The  only  consolation  one  has  is  the  fact — 
which  is  a  fact — that  with  that  stolid  insularity  which  from 
the  Twelfth  Century  has  insisted  in  working  out  its  own 
salvation  in  its  own  way — English  architects  ignored  them 
both.  The  new  French  choir  was  to  be  a  rock  on  which 
the  main  current  of  English  art  struck  and  parted  asunder 
only  to  meet  again  on  the  other  side.  English  design  passed 
on,  as  if  Canterbury  choir  had  never  existed,  from  Ripon 
and  Chichester  and  Abbey  Dore  and  Wells  to  Lincoln 
Minster.  The  coupled  columns,  the  French  arch-moulds, 
the  Corinthianesque  capitals  of  Canterbury  were  un-Eng- 
lish ;  no  one  would  have  anything  to  do  with  them  any- 
where. 

The  choir,  as  rebuilt,  was  even  longer  than  Conrad's 
long  choir.  It  has  an  elongated  aisled  apse  beyond  and  a 
curious  circular  chapel  east  of  that.  The  former  goes  by 
the  name  of  Trinity  chapel,  the  latter  of  Becket's  corona. 
Becket's  first  mass  had  been  said  in  an  older  Trinity  chapel ; 
his  body  lay  from  1170  to  1220  in  the  crypt  below  it;  in 
1220  he  was  translated  to  a  magnificent  shrine  in  the  pres- 
ent Trinity  chapel.  The  corona  may  perhaps  have  been 
erected  to  cover  another  shrine  placed  here  and  containing 
a  fragment  of  Becket's  scalp.  Sens  seems  to  have  had  a 
similar  corona.     The  design  of  the  choir  is  a  close  copy  of 


CANTERBURY  CATHEDRAL  277 

the  work  at  Sens,  Noyon,  Soissons  and  the  neighbouring 
cathedrals. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  year  of  his  work,  William 
of  Sens  was  seriously  injured  by  a  fall  from  the  scaffold, 
and  soon  after  returned  to  France.  An  English  William 
was  appointed  to  succeed  him.  He  completed  Trinity 
chapel,  Becket's  corona  and  the  crypt  beneath  the  two. 

More  important  even  than  the  architecture  is  the  ancient 
glass.  Canterbury  and  York  are  the  great  treasury-houses 
of  stained  glass  :  Canterbury  for  early  Thirteenth  Century 
glass,  York  for  Fourteenth  Century  glass.  The  student 
should  take  with  him  to  Canterbury  Mr.  Lewis  Day's 
work  on  stained  glass.  Three  of  the  windows  in  the 
Trinity  chapel  illustrate  the  miracles  of  St.  Thomas. 

In  the  east  window  of  the  corona  is  portrayed  Christ's 
Passion ;  in  the  two  windows  of  the  north  aisle  are  types 
and  anti-types  from  the  Old  and  New  Testament ;  among 
them  the  three  Magi  all  asleep  in  one  bed.  The  circular 
window  in  the  northeast  transept  also  contains  the  original 
glass,  and  many  fragments  are  seen  elsewhere. 

III.  Lancet. — For  this  period  (i  190-1245)  there  is 
nothing  to  show  except  the  north  wall  of  the  Cloister  and  a 
lovely  doorway  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  Cloister,  cruelly 
hacked  about,  by  the  vandals  who  built  the  cloister-vault. 

IV.  To  the  Geometrical  period  (1245-1315)  belongs 
the  Chapter-house  up  to  the  sills  of  the  windows,  and  the 
screens  north  and  south  of  the  choir.  A  fine  window  with 
Kentish  tracery  was  inserted  in  St.  Anselm's  chapel. 

V.  Of  Curvilinear  work  (1315-13&0)  there  is  no  trace 
except  some  diaper-work  in  the  choir,  which  may  have 
adorned  the  shrine  of  St.  Dunstan,  who  was  buried  at  the 
south  end  of  the  high  altar. 


278  CANTERBURY  CATHEDRAL 

VI.  Perpendicular  (1360-1485). — At  length  Canterbury 
woke  up  and  removed  Lanfranc's  nave  and  transept,  which 
must  have  looked  shockingly  low  and  mean  for  the  last  two 
hundred  years  in  juxtaposition  with  the  stately  choir.  The 
new  nave,  built  between  1379  and  1400,  is  very  fine,  but 
somehow  no  one  seems  to  be  a  very  ardent  admirer  of  it. 
Its  proportions  are  not  good. 

To  this  period  belong  also  the  Black  Prince's  chantry  and 
the  screens  and  reredos  in  the  Lady  Chapel,  all  in  the  crypt ; 
the  upper  part  of  the  chapter-house,  from  which  all  aspect 
of  antiquity  has  recently  been  removed ;  the  cloisters ;  St. 
Michael's,  or  the  Warrior's  chapel,  which  replaced  the  east- 
ern apse  of  Lanfranc's  southern  transept,  and  which  has  a 
complicated  lierne  vault  similar  in  character  to  that  of  the 
north  transept  of  Gloucester  Cathedral ;  the  tomb  and  chan- 
try of  Henry  IV.,  with  fan  vaulting,  1433 ;  the  western 
screen  at  the  entrance  of  the  choir;  the  southwest  tower; 
Dean's  chapel  (Lady  chapel),  which  replaced  the  eastern  apse 
of  Lanfranc's  northern  transept  (1450),  and  which  has  fan- 
vaulting. 

VII.  To  the  Tudor  period  belongs  the  Angel,  or  Bell 
Harry  Tower  (149 5-1 503)  and  the  buttressing  and  arches 
inserted  between  its  piers.  Also  the  Christ  Church  gate- 
way. The  great  tower  is  remarkable  for  the  unbroken  ver- 
ticality  of  its  buttresses  ;  it  is  as  exceptional  as  it  is  suc- 
cessful in  design. 

The  chapter-house  is  rectangular,  for  a  rectangular 
building  fitted  more  easily  into  the  east  walk  of  a  monastic 
cloister.  Nearly  all  the  monastic  chapter-houses  are  there- 
fore rectangular,  but  sometimes  had  apses ;  the  exceptions 
being  the  Benedictine  chapter-houses  of  Worcester,  West- 
minster, Evesham,  and  Belvoir  (which  last  was  exceptional 


CANTERBURY  CATHEDRAL  279 

also  In  position,  being  placed  In  the  very  centre  of  the  clois- 
ter) and  the  Cistercian  chapter-houses  of  Morgam  and  Ab- 
bey Dore,  sister  designs.  While  Secular  Canons,  having  as 
a  rule  no  cloister,  preferred  a  polygonal  chapter-house,  such 
as  Lincoln,  Beverley,  Lichfield,  Salisbury,  Wells,  Elgin, 
Southwell,  York,  Old  St.  Paul's,  Hereford,  Howden,  Man- 
chester, Warwick.  So  did  the  Regular  Canons  at  Alnwick, 
Cockersand,  Thornton,  Carlisle,  Bridlington  and  Bolton. 
This  beautiful  polygonal  form  seems  not  to  occur  in  France. 

At  the  northwest  corner  of  the  cloister  is  the  doorway 
through  which  Becket  passed  to  the  northwest  transept, 
with  his  murderers  In  pursuit  of  him.  Near  here  is  a  hole 
in  the  wall,  the  Buttery  hatch.  In  the  Fifteenth  Century 
the  south  walk  of  the  cloister  was  divided  into  "  studies  " 
for  the  monks  by  wooden  partitions  (at  Gloucester  they  are 
of  stone)  and  its  windows  were  glazed. 

From  the  cloister  we  pass  to  the  West  Front  and  com- 
mence the  tour  of  the  exterior.  The  southwest  tower 
(with  the  Dean's  chapel)  was  completed  by  Prior  Goldstone 
(1449-1468) :  the  copy  of  it  was  put  up  in  1834:  "it  was 
an  eyesore  that  the  two  towers  did  not  match."  Very  bad 
modern  statues  adorn  the  niches. 

Later  still  is  Christ  Church  Gateway  through  which  one 
first  approaches  the  Cathedral  with  doors  inserted  in  1662. 
Originally  it  had  two  turrets.  Outside  It  Is  a  monument  to 
the  dramatist  Marlowe. 

On  the  south  side  is  seen  the  porch  ;  the  nave,  a  beauti- 
ful design  ;  and  the  charming  pinnacle  of  the  southwest 
transept.  East  of  the  Warrior's  chapel  is  the  projecting  end 
of  Stephen  Langton's  tomb.  East  of  this,  the  two  lower 
rows  of  windows  are  those  of  Conrad's  choir ;  the  upper  row 
that  of  William  of  Sens.    The  middle  windows  in  the  south- 


28o  CANTERBURY  CATHEDRAL 

east  transept  were  the  clerestory  windows  of  Conrad ;  the 
windows  above  them  are  those  of  William  of  Sens.  The 
three  upper  stages  of  the  tower  on  the  south  of  this  transept 
are  late  Norman  work  j  one  of  the  prettiest  bits  in  Canter- 
bury. Farther  east  we  have  French  design,  pure  and  sim- 
ple ;  here,  for  the  first  time  in  English  architecture,  the  fly- 
ing-buttresses are  openly  displayed ;  notice  how  flat  and 
plain  they  are  ;  it  had  not  yet  occurred  to  architects  to  make 
them  decorative.  The  grand  sweep  of  apse  and  ambulatory 
seems  to  send  one  straight  back  to  France.  Then  comes 
the  broken,  rocky  outline  of  the  corona — the  great  puzzle  of 
Canterbury.  Northeast  of  the  corona  are  two  groups  of 
ruined  Norman  pillars  and  arches  discoloured  by  fire  ;  once 
they  were  continuous,  forming  one  very  long  building,  the 
Monk's  Infirmary,  of  which  the  west  end  was  originally  an 
open  dormitory,  open  to  the  roof,  and  the  east  end,  separ- 
ated off^  by  a  screen,  the  Chapel ;  which  has  a  late  geomet- 
rical window.  A  Mediaeval  infirmary  of  this  type  is  still  in 
use  at  Chichester.  The  Canterbury  infirmary  had  a  north 
transept,  called  the  Table  Hall,  or  Refectory  (now  part  of 
the  house  of  the  Archdeacon  of  Maidstone)  in  which  the 
inmates  dined.  On  the  north  side  of  Trinity  Chapel  is  seen 
the  Chantry  of  Henry  IV. ;  then  St.  Andrew's  Tower  and 
the  barred  Treasury  ;  the  lower  part  of  the  latter  is  late 
Norman  work,  largely  rebuilt.  The  south  alley  of  the  In- 
firmary Cloister  was  built  about  1236.  Along  this  one 
passes  to  the  Baptistery,  which  was  originally  nothing  but  a 
Mediaeval  water-tower ;  late  Norman  below.  Perpendicular 
above.  Returning  towards  the  Infirmary,  we  turn  to  the 
north  up  the  east  alley  of  the  Infirmary  Cloister,  now  called 
the  "Dark  Entry,"  at  the  north  end  of  which  is  the  Prior's 
Gateway.     On  the  left  are  some  Norman  shafts  and  arches 


CANTERBURY  CATHEDRAL  28 1 

of  beautiful  design.  It  was  the  Dark  Entry  that  was  haunted 
by  Nell  Cook  of  the  Ingoldsby  Legends.  West  of  the 
Prior's  Gateway  are  the  two  columns  from  the  Romano- 
British  Church  at  Reculvers.  On  the  north  side  of  the 
Prior's,  or  Green  Court,  are  the  Brewery  and  Bake- 
house; to  the  northwest  is  the  famous  Norman  staircase 
which  originally  led  to  a  great  North  Hall  or  Casual  Ward 
— for  tramps,  too,  found  accommodation  at  the  monasteries. 


LAON  CATHEDRAL 

ESTHER  SINGLETON 

NOTRE  DAME  DE  LAON  is  one  of  the  most  per- 
fect productions  of  French  architecture.  It  was 
erected  in  the  Twelfth  Century  on  the  site  of  the  old  Ca- 
thedral which  was  burnt  to  the  ground  during  the  communal 
struggles  in  1112.  Crowning  the  isolated  hill,  which  rises 
some  three  hundred  feet  above  the  plain,  the  splendid  edi- 
fice is  seen  for  many  miles  and  has  something  of  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  castle,  owing  to  its  towers.  Originally  each 
of  the  three  facades  had  two  towers  and  there  was  also  a 
great  central  tower;  but  only  four  remain  now  and  these 
are  without  spires.  The  square  lantern  tower  above  the 
crossing (130  feet  high)  is  also  altered  in  appearance;  for  it 
is  now  surmounted  by  alow  pyramidal  roof  instead  of  pierc- 
ing the  air  with  its  former  spire. 

Laon  is  strictly  speaking  no  longer  a  cathedral ;  for  the 
bishopric  was  suppressed  during  the  Revolution,  when  the 
Cathedral  suffered  terribly  from  the  fury  of  the  mob  ;  yet, 
from  before  the  year  500  to  1789  Laon  was  the  seat  of  a 
bishop  second  only  in  rank  to  the  Archbishop  of  Reims. 

Of  late  years  the  Cathedral  has  been  judiciously  restored. 
Many  of  the  old  statues  have  been  renovated  and  new  ones 
added  ;  and  the  latter  have  been  made  in  such  sympathy  with 
their  companions  that  it  is  difficult  for  experts  to  distinguish 
the  moderns  from  the  primitives,  although  the  former  have 
their  eyes  slightly  more  open. 

Happily,  however,  some  of   the  splendid  original  glass 


LAON  CATHEDRAL 


LAON  CATHEDRAL  283 

remains,  including    the  magnificent  rose  window  of  the 
West  Front. 

In  purity  and  elegance  the  West  Front  of  Laon  ranks 
next  to  that  of  Notre  Dame  in  Paris,  to  which  it  bears  a 
striking  resemblance.  The  central  and  side  porches  are  of 
great  depth  and  are  adorned  with  rows  of  statues.  The 
central  and  left  door  are  consecrated  to  the  Virgin,  and  de- 
pict her  life  from  the  Annunciation  to  the  Coronation ;  the 
right  door  presents  the  Last  Judgment  and  Christ.  Most 
of  the  statues  here  are  restorations  and  modern  works  as 
we  have  noted.  Directly  behind  the  gables  of  these  doors 
is  a  row  of  windows  and  then  a  frieze  of  foliage  runs  the  en- 
tire length  of  the  fa9ade.  Above  this  frieze  the  great  rose 
window  unfolds  its  luminous  petals  and  on  either  side  of  it 
is  a  fine  lancet  window.  A  second  frieze  of  foHage  forms 
a  line  above  these  windows  and  then  comes  a  gallery  com- 
posed of  charming  arches  and  bearing  four  bell-towers. 
Above  this  first  gallery  is  a  third  band  of  foliage  and  above 
this  rise,  to  a  height  of  180  feet,  the  towers, — those  master- 
pieces that  have  excited  the  admiration  of  architects,  artists 
and  travellers  for  centuries.  The  lower  part  of  these  tow- 
ers is  square  and  the  upper  part  octagonal,  pierced  by  arches 
and  adorned  with  open  columns.  On  the  platform  of  each 
tower  eight  colossal  oxen  stand  and  peer  curiously  into  the 
world  below.  These  animals,  silhouetted  against  the  sky, 
can  be  seen  from  a  long  distance.  They  commemorate  the 
animals  that  dragged  the  stones  for  the  Cathedral  up  the 
steep  hill ;  and,  according  to  the  legend,  they  were  aided  by 
another  ox  that  mysteriously  appeared  to  lend  his  aid  to  the 
wearied  team,  and  when  his  services  were  no  longer  re- 
quired as  mysteriously  disappeared. 

The  entrance  to  the  north  arm  of  the  transept  is  the 


284  LAON  CATHEDRAL 

oldest  part  of  the  church  and  is  approached  by  steps.  The 
doors  are  surmounted  by  a  frieze  of  foliage  ;  then  come  the 
windows  surmounted  by  a  second  band  of  foliage ;  and 
above  this  a  rose  window.  Above  this  rose  runs  a  third 
frieze  and  then  a  richly  carved  gallery  crowned  by  a  fourth 
frieze  of  foliage. 

Like  the  north,  the  south  entrance,  which,  however,  has 
no  steps,  is  composed  of  two  porches,  the  tympanums  of 
which  are  pierced  and  openworked.  Above  these  doors  the 
wall  is  cut  by  a  large,  but  not  a  rose,  window.  This  is  fin- 
ished by  a  gallery  ornamented  by  sharply  pointed  arches. 

The  flat  east  wall  supported  on  the  right  and  left  by 
solid  buttresses  is  very  picturesque.  It  is  broken  by  three 
lancet  windows  above  which  is  a  band  of  foliage  and  above 
this  the  rose  window,  surmounted  by  a  charming  gallery 
with  a  bell-tower  at  each  end.  In  the  centre  a  triangular 
gable  supports  a  little  spire. 

The  Cathedral  is  397  feet  long,  and  its  breath  across  the 
nave  sixty-seven  feet.  The  interior  is  of  equal  interest. 
It  is  built  in  the  form  of  a  cross ;  but  the  choir,  instead  of 
ending  in  an  apse,  as  in  most  French  cathedrals,  terminates 
in  a  straight  wall  pierced  by  a  rose  window  and  three 
lancets  below  it. 

The  nave  is  a  marvel.  It  contains  eleven  bays  and  an 
avenue  of  columns  of  great  variety  and  above  them  the 
vault  springs  gracefully  to  a  height  of  seventy-eight  feet. 
The  gallery  and  triforium,  with  their  beautiful  arches,  re- 
mind the  spectator  of  Notre  Dame  of  Paris.  The  transept 
cuts  the  nave  nearly  in  the  centre  and  bears  a  strong  re- 
semblance to  the  transept  of  Noyon.  At  the  end  of  each 
arm  is  an  ancient  chapel  of  two  stories.  The  choir  has  ten 
bays. 


LAON  CATHEDRAL  285 

This  vast  and  sublime  interior  is  not  only  impressive  but 
delightful  to  study  in  detail,  for  no  cathedral  offers  a  more 
luxuriant  flora  of  stone.  The  long  avenues  of  columns  are 
varied:  substantial  columns  of  wide  girth  alternate  vv^ith 
slender  columns  of  great  delicacy  ;  and  bases  and  capitals 
offer  to  the  eye  a  bewildering  field  for  study.  Here  the 
flora  of  the  first  Gothic  period  through  the  Twelfth  and 
first  years  of  the  Thirteenth  Centuries  may  be  studied  to 
the  greatest  advantage  and  some  capitals  of  the  Fourteenth 
Century  also  appear  on  the  capitals.  First,  we  have  the 
pointed  toothed  acanthus  leaf  of  the  Roiiian  epoch  (Elev- 
enth Century),  then  the  round  toothed  acanthus  of  the 
Twelfth  Century  and  also  the  vine,  plantain,  water-lily, 
fern  and  o"'c  of  the  Gothic  nericd.  In  the  capitals  of  the 
nave,  transept  and  choir  only  the  water-lily  and  plantain 
occur;  one  in  the  choir  bears  the  fern.  In  the  gallery 
of  the  north  transept  there  are  capitals  where  fan- 
tastic personages  and  animals  are  combined  with  the 
acanthus. 

Laon  is  splendidly  lighted.  Counting  all  the  windows 
there  are  no  less  than  a  hundred  and  fifty ;  but  the  only 
ones  of  brilliant  colour  are  the  rose  of  the  West  Front,  the 
lancets  and  the  rose  of  the  choir,  and  the  rose  of  the  north 
entrance.     Particularly  beautiful  is  the  blue  glass. 

The  great  window  of  the  West  Front  is  composed  of  three 
rows  of  twelve  petals.  In  the  centre  is  the  Virgin  between 
Isaac  and  John  the  Baptist,  around  her  in  the  next  row  are 
the  Twelve  Apostles,  and  in  the  outer  row  are  characters 
from  the  Apocalypse.  The  rose  window  in  the  choir  has  the 
Glorification  of  the  Virgin  for  its  subject  and  the  three 
lancets  below  are  devoted  to  the  Passion,  Resurrection  and 
Ascension,  in  the  centre ;  the  Martyrdom  of  St.  Stephen 


286  LAON  CATHEDRAL 

and  the  story  of  Theophilus  on  the  right ;  and  on  the  other 
are  depicted  scenes  from  the  life  of  the  Virgin. 

The  chapter-house  and  cloisters  contain  beautiful  ex- 
amples of  architecture  of  the  beginning  of  the  Thirteenth 
Century. 


GERONA  CATHEDRAL 

GEORGE  EDMUND  STREET 

THERE  was  a  cathedral  here  at  a  very  early  period ; 
and  when  Gerona  was  taken  by  the  Moors,  they 
converted  it  into  a  mosque,  but,  with  their  usual  liberality, 
allowed  the  services  of  the  church  still  to  be  carried  on  in 
the  neighbouring  church  of  San  Felin,  which,  for  a  time, 
accordingly  was  the  cathedral  church.  In  a.  d.  1015  this 
state  of  affairs  had  ceased,  owing  to  the  expulsion  of  the 
Moors  and  the  Cathedral  was  again  recovered  to  the  use  of 
the  church.  Considerable  works  were  at  this  time 
executed,  if,  indeed,  the  Cathedral  was  not  entirely  rebuilt, 
as  the  old  documents  declare,  and  the  altered  church  was 
reconsecrated  in  a.  d.  1038  by  the  Archbishop  of  Nar- 
bonne,  assisted  by  the  Bishops  of  Vique,  Urgel,  Elne, 
Barcelona,  Carcassonne,  and  others.  In  a.  d.  1310  works 
seem  to  have  been  again  in  progress,  and  in  a.  d.  1312  a 
Chapter  was  held,  at  which  it  was  resolved  to  rebuild  the 
head,  or  chevet^  of  the  church  with  nine  chapels,  for  which, 
in  A.  D.  1292,  Guillermo  Gaufredo,  the  treasurer,  made  a 
bequest  in  favour  of  the  work.  In  a.  d.  1325,  I  find  that 
an  indulgence  was  granted  by  the  Bishop  Petrus  de  Urrea 
in  favour  of  donors  to  the  work  of  the  Cathedral ;  and  the 
work,  so  far  westward  as  the  end  of  the  choir,  was  prob- 
ably complete  before  a.  d.  1346,  inasmuch  as  in  this  year 
the  silver  altar,  with  its  Retablo  and  baldachin  were  placed 
where    they    now    stand.       We    know    something    of  the 


288  GERONA  CATHEDRAL 

architects  employed  during  the  Fourteenth  Century  upon 
the  works  just  mentioned.  In  131 2  the  Chapter  appointed 
the  Archdeacon  Ramon  de  Vilarico  and  the  Canon 
Arnaldo  de  Montredon  to  be  the  obreros  or  general  clerical 
superintendents  of  the  progress  of  the  works.  In  a.  d. 
1316,  or,  according  to  some  authorities,  in  February,  1320, 
an  architect — Eurique  of  Narbonne — is  first  mentioned  i 
and  soon  after  this,  on  his  death,  another  architect  of  the 
same  city,  Jacobo  de  Favariis  by  name,  was  appointed  with 
a  salary  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  libras  a  quarter,  and  upon 
the  condition  that  he  should  come  from  Narbonne  six  times 
a  year  to  examine  the  progress  of  the  works,  and  he  prob- 
ably carried  them  on  until  the  completion  of  the  choir  in 
1346. 

In  A.  D.  14 1 6,  Guillermo  Boffiy,  master  of  the  works  of 
the  Cathedral,  proposed  a  plan  for  its  completion  by  the 
erection  of  a  nave  5  and  though  the  chevet  had  an  aisle  and 
chapels  round  it,  he  proposed  to  build  his  nave  of  the  same 
width  as  the  choir  and  its  aisles,  but  as  a  single  nave  with- 
out aisles. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  exactly  when  the  nave  was  com- 
pleted, but  the  great  south  door  was  not  executed  until 
A.  D.  1458,  and  the  keystone  of  the  last  division  of  the 
vault  seems  to  have  been  placed  in  the  time  of  Bishop 
Benito,  so  late  as  circa  1579.  In  a.  d.  158 i  the  same 
bishop  laid  the  first  stone  of  the  bell-tower  and  in  1607  the 
west  front  and  the  great  flight  of  steps  leading  up  to  it 
seem  to  have  been  commenced. 

The  choir  has  nine  chapels  round  its  chevet^  and  has 
lofty  arches,  a  series  of  very  small  openings  in  lieu  of  tri- 
forium  and  a  clerestory  of  two-light  windows,  of  decidedly 
late  but  still  good  Middle-pointed  character.     The  columns. 


GERONA  CATHEDRAL  289 

in  the  usual  Catalan  fashion  of  this  age,  are  clusters  of 
rather  reedy  mouldings,  with  no  proper  division  or  subordi- 
nation of  parts,  and  consequently  of  poor  effect,  and  there 
is  no  division  by  way  of  string  courses  above  or  below  the 
triforium.  On  the  exterior  the  east  end  is  not  seen  to 
much  advantage,  as  it  is  built  into  and  against  a  steep  hill, 
so  that  at  a  distance  of  a  few  feet  only  the  eye  is  on  a  level 
with  the  top  of  the  walls  of  the  chapels  round  the  apse. 
The  roofs,  too,  have  all  been  modernized  and  lowered. 
The  only  peculiarities  here  are  a  series  of  trefoiled  open- 
ings, just  under  the  eaves  of  the  roof,  into  the  space  over 
the  vaulting,  and  perhaps  devised  for  the  purpose  of  ventila- 
tion ;  and  the  gargoyles  projecting  from  the  buttresses, 
which  are  carved  and  moulded  stones  finished  at  the  end 
with  an  octagonal  capital,  through  the  bottom  of  which  the 
water  falls,  and  which  almost  looks  as  if  it  were  meant  for 
the  stone-head  of  a  metal  down-pipe. 

When  the  choir  was  built,  some  considerable  portions 
of  the  church  consecrated  in  a.  d.  1038  were  left  standing. 
The  nave  was  probably  entirely  of  this  age ;  and  a  portion 
of  what  was  no  doubt  one  of  the  original  towers  still  re- 
mains on  the  north  side,  between  the  cloister  and  the  nave. 
This  tower  has  pilasters  at  the  angles  and  in  the  centre, 
and  is  divided  into  equal  stages  in  height  by  horizontal 
corbel-tables.  An  apse  of  the  same  age  remains  on  the 
east  side  of  what  seems  to  have  been  the  south  transept  of 
the  early  church  ;  and  from  its  position  we  may,  I  think, 
assume  with  safety  that  the  church  was  then  finished  with 
three  or  five  apses  at  the  east,  very  much  as  in  the  church 
of  San  Pedro  close  by.  In  addition  to  these  early  remains 
there  is  also  a  magnificent  and  all  but  unaltered  cloister.  I 
cannot  find  any  certain  evidence  of  its  exact  date,  though 


290  GERONA  CATHEDRAL 

it  seems  to  have  existed  in  a.  d.  1117,  when  an  act  of  the 
Bishop  Raymond  Berenger  was  issued  in  the  "  cloister  of 
the  Cathedral."  The  character  of  the  work  confirms,  I 
think,  this  date.  The  plan  is  very  peculiar,  forming  a  very 
irregular  trapezium,  no  two  of  the  sides  being  equal  in 
length.  It  has  on  all  four  sides  severely  simple  round 
arches  carried  on  coupled  shafts  :  these  are  of  marble,  and 
set  as  much  as  twenty  inches  apart,  so  as  to  enable  them  to 
carry  a  wall  three  feet  one  and  a  half  inches  thick.  This 
thickness  of  wall  was  quite  necessary,  as  the  cloister  is  all 
roofed  with  stone,  the  section  of  the  vaults  on  the  east, 
west  and  south  sides  being  half  of  a  barrel,  and  on  the 
north  a  complete  barrel  vault.  The  detail  of  the  capitals 
is  of  the  extremely  elaborate  and  delicate  imitation  of 
classical  carving  so  frequently  seen  throughout  the  south 
of  France.  The  abaci  are  in  one  stone,  but  the  bases  of 
the  shafts  are  separate  and  rest  upon  a  low  dwarf-wall  and 
square  piers  are  carried  up  at  intervals  to  strengthen  the 
arcade.     The  columns  have  a  very  slight  entasis. 

The  cloister  deserves  careful  study,  as  it  seems  to  show 
one  of  the  main  branches  of  the  stream  by  which  Roman- 
esque art  was  introduced  into  Spain.  It  is  impossible  not 
to  recognize  the  extreme  similarity  between  such  work  as 
we  see  here  and  that  which  we  see  in  the  cloister  at  Elne, 
near  Perpinan,  and,  to  go  still  farther  afield,  at  S.  Trophine 
at  Aries.  And  if  any  Spanish  readers  of  these  pages  ob- 
ject to  my  assumption  that  the  stream  flowed  from  France 
westward,  they  must  prove  the  exact  converse,  and  assume 
that  this  Romanesque  work  was  developed  from  Roman 
work  in  Spain,  and  thence  spread  to  Elne  and  Aries,  a 
position  which  none,  I  suppose,  will  be  bold  enough  to  take. 

The  nave  remains  to  be  described ;  and  to  do  this  well 


GERONA  CATHEDRAL  29 1 

and  adequately,  it  is  necessary  to  use,  not  indeed  many, 
but  certainly  strong,  words.  Guillermo  Boffiy,  master  of 
the  works,  might  well  cling  fondly  to  his  grand  scheme,  for 
his  proposal  was  not  less,  I  believe,  than  the  erection  of  the 
widest  pointed  vault  in  Christendom.  Such  a  scheme 
might  be  expected  to  meet  then  in  Spain  a  good  deal  of 
criticism,  and  many  objections,  on  the  score  of  its  im- 
practicability ;  and  it  is  to  the  honour  of  the  Chapter  that 
they  had  the  good  sense  to  consult  experts  and  not  amateurs 
as  to  the  steps  to  be  taken,  and  then  having  satisfied  them- 
selves that  their  architect  was  competent  to  his  work,  that 
they  left  it  entirely  in  his  hands. 

The  clear  width  of  this  nave  is  seventy-three  feet,  and 
its  height  is  admirably  proportioned  to  this  vast  dimension. 
It  is  only  four  bays  in  length  :  each  bay  has  chapels  open- 
ing into  it  on  either  side,  and  filling  up  the  space  ketween 
the  enormous  buttresses,  whose  depth  from  the  front  of  the 
groining  shaft  to  their  face  is  no  less  than  twenty  feet. 
Above  the  arches  which  open  into  the  side  chapels  is  a  row 
of  small  cusped  openings,  corresponding  with  those  which 
form  the  triforium  of  the  choir  ;  and  above  these  are  lofty 
traceried  clerestory  windows.  The  groining-ribs  are  very 
large  and  well  moulded.  At  the  east  end  of  the  nave  three 
arches  open  into  the  choir  and  its  aisles  ;  and  above  these 
are  three  circular  windows,  the  largest  of  which  has  lost  its 
tracery.  And  here  it  is  that  the  magnificence  of  the  scheme 
is  most  fully  realized.  A  single  nave  and  choir,  all  of  the 
same  enormous  size,  would  have  been  immeasurable  by  the 
eye,  and  would  have  been,  to  a  great  extent,  thrown  away ; 
here,  however,  the  lofty  choir  and  aisles,  with  their  many 
subdivisions,  give  an  extraordinary  impression  of  size  to  the 
vast  vault  of  the  nave,  and  make  it  look  even  larger  than 


292  GERONA  CATHEDRAL 

it  really  is.  In  short,  had  this  nave  been  longer  by  one 
bay,  I  believe  that  scarcely  any  interior  in  Europe  could 
have  surpassed  it  in  effect.  Unfortunately,  as  is  so  often 
the  case  among  those  who  possess  the  most  precious  works 
of  art,  there  is  now  but  little  feeling  in  Gerona  for  the 
treasure  it  possesses  in  this  wondrous  nave,  for  the  stalls 
and  Coro  have  been  moved  down  from  their  proper  place 
into  the  middle  of  its  length,  where  they  are  shut  in  and 
surrounded  by  a  high  blank  screen,  painted  in  the  vulgarest 
imitation  of  Gothic  traceries  to  the  utter  ruin,  of  course, 
of  the  whole  internal  perspective.  It  would  be  a  grand 
and  simple  work  of  restoration  to  give  up  here,  for  once, 
the  Spanish  usage  and  to  restore  the  stalls  to  the  proper 
choir.  I  say  "  restore,"  because  it  is  pretty  clear  that  they 
could  not  have  been  in  the  nave  when  they  were  first  made, 
inasmuch  as  this  was  in  A.  d.  135 1,  sixty-six  years  before 
its  commencement.  A  deed  still  remains  in  the  archives 
of  the  Cathedral,  by  which  we  ascertain  this  fact,  for  by  it  a 
sculptor  from  Barcelona  agreed,  on  June  7,  1 351,  to  make 
the  stalls  at  the  rate  of  forty-five  Ubras  of  Barcelona  for 
each.  The  detail  of  some  parts  of  the  woodwork  is  ex- 
ceedingly good,  and  evidently  of  the  middle  of  the  Four- 
teenth Century,  so  that  it  is  clear  that  they  are  the  very 
stalls  referred  to  in  the  agreement. 

It  is  difficult  to  express  a  positive  opinion  as  to  the  orig- 
inal intention  of  the  architect  in  regard  to  the  design  and 
finish  of  the  exterior  of  this  part  of  the  church.  The  gable 
walls  have  been  altered,  the  roofs  renewed,  and  the  original 
termination  of  the  buttresses  destroyed.  At  no  time,  how- 
ever, I  think,  can  it  have  looked  well.  The  position  is 
charming,  on  the  edge  of  a  steep,  rocky  hill  falling  down  to 
the  river,  and  girt  on  its  north  side  by  the  old  many-towered 


GERONA  CATHEDRAL  293 

city  wall ;  yet  with  all  these  advantages  it  is  now  a  de- 
cidedly ugly  work,  and  the  nave  looks  bald  and  large  out 
of  all  proportion  to  the  subdivided,  lower,  and  over-deli- 
cately-treated choir.  On  the  west  side  the  whole  character 
of  the  church  is  Pagan  ;  and  I  well  remember  the  astonish- 
ment with  which,  when  I  had  climbed  the  long  flight  of 
broad  steps  which  leads  to  the  western  door,  I  looked  down 
the  stupendous  interior,  for  which  I  had  been  so  little 
prepared. 

The  effect  is  not  a  little  enhanced  by  the  dark  colour  of 
the  stone,  which  has  never  been  polluted  by  whitewash ; 
but  there  are  some  defects.  The  want  of  length  has  already 
been  noticed ;  the  entire  absence  of  string-courses  inside  is 
not  pleasant ;  and  the  lowering  of  the  arches  into  the  chap- 
els in  the  second  bay  from  the  west  wall,  where  there  are 
three  in  place  of  the  two  in  each  of  the  other  bays,  breaks 
the  main  lines  of  the  design  very  awkwardly.  The  mould- 
ings, too,  as  might  be  expected  in  work  of  so  late  a  date,  are 
nowhere  very  first  rate,  though  they  certainly  retain  gen- 
erally the  character  of  late  Fourteenth  Century  work. 

The  doorway  on  the  south  side  of  the  nave  is  remarkable 
in  one  respect.  It  has  in  its  jambs  a  series  of  statues  of 
the  Apostles,  executed  in  terra-cotta ;  and  the  agreement 
for  their  execution,  made  in  a.  d.  1458,  with  the  artist 
Berenguer  Cervia,  binds  him  to  execute  them  for  six  hun- 
dred florins  and  "  of  the  same  earth  as  the  statue  of 
St.  Eulalia  and  the  cross  of  the  new  doorway  at  Barce- 
lona." The  doorway  is  very  large,  but  bald  and  poor  in 
detail ;  the  statues  to  which  the  contract  refers  still  remain, 
and  are  in  good  preservation. 

There  is  nothing  more  specially  worth  noticing  in  the 
fabric  i  but  fortunately  the  choir  still  retains  precious  relics 


294  GERONA  CATHEDRAL 

in  the  Retablo  behind,  and  the  baldachin  above,  the  high- 
altar.  There  are  also  said  to  be  some  frontals  of  the  altar 
still  preserved,  which  are  of  silver,  and  which  were  originally 
adorned  with  precious  stones,  and  with  an  inscription  which 
proves  them  to  have  been  made  before  the  consecration  of 
the  church  in  a.  d.  1038.  Unfortunately  they  were  not  in 
their  place  when  I  was  at  Gerona,  and  so  I  missed  seeing 
them.  The  Retablo  is  of  wood  entirely  covered  with  silver 
plates,  and  divided  vertically  into  three  series  of  niches  and 
canopies;  each  division  has  a  subject,  and  a  good  deal  of 
enamelling  is  introduced  in  various  parts  of  the  canopies 
and  grounds  of  the  panels.  Each  panel  has  a  cinquefoiled 
arch  with  a  crocketed  gablet  and  pinnacles  on  either  side. 
The  straight  line  of  the  top  is  broken  by  three  niches, 
which  rise  in  the  centre  and  at  either  end.  In  the  centre 
is  the  Blessed  Virgin  with  our  Lord ;  on  the  right,  San 
Narcisso ;  and  on  the  left,  San  Felin.  The  three  tiers  of 
subjects  contain  (a)  figures  of  saints,  (b)  subjects  from  the 
life  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  (c)  subjects  from  the  life  of 
our  Lord.  A  monument  in  one  of  the  chapels  gives  some 
account  of  this  precious  work ;  for  though  it  is  called  a 
ciborium,  it  is  also  spoken  of  as  being  of  silver,  which,  I 
believe,  the  actual  ciborium  is  not. 

The  date  of  this  monument  is  1362;  but  in  the  Liber 
Notularum  for  A.  D.  1320,  21,  and  22,  it  seems  that  the  Chap- 
ter devoted  3,000  I'lbras  for  the  reparation  of  the  Retablo, 
though  it  was  not  till  a.  d,  1346  that  the  work  was  finished 
and  the  altar  finally  fixed  in  its  present  position.  The 
whole  of  the  work  is  therefore  before  this  date;  and 
probably  the  Retablo  and  the  baldachin  date  from  the  period 
between  the  two  dates  last  given,  viz.,  a.  d.  1320  and 
A.  D.  1348. 


G2RONA  CATHEDRAL  295 

The  baldachin  is,  like  the  Retablo,  of  wood  covered  with 
thin  plates  of  metal.  It  stands  upon  four  shafts,  the  lower 
portions  of  which  are  of  dark  marble  resting  on  the  moulded 
footpace  round  the  altar.  These  four  shafts  have  capitals 
and  bands,  the  latter  being  set  round  with  enamelled  coats- 
of-arms.  The  canopy  is  a  sort  of  very  flat  quadripartite 
vault  covered  with  small  figures ;  but  on  both  my  visits  to 
Gerona  it  has  been  so  dark  in  the  choir  as  to  render  it  im- 
possible to  make  out  the  subjects.  The  central  subject 
seems  to  be  the  Coronation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  in  the 
eastern  division  is  a  sitting  figure  of  our  Lord  with  saints  on 
either  side.  In  order  to  show  the  figures  on  the  roof  of  the 
baldachin  as  much  as  possible,  the  two  eastern  columns  are 
much  lower  than  the  western,  the  whole  roof  having  thus  a 
slope  up  towards  the  west.  A  singular  arrangement  was 
contrived  behind  the  altar — a  white  marble  seat  for  the 
bishop  raised  by  several  steps  on  either  side  to  the  level  of 
the  altar,  and  placed  under  the  central  arch  of  the  apse. 
Here,  when  the  bishop  celebrated  pontifically,  he  sat  till  the 
oblation,  and  returned  to  it  again  to  give  the  benediction  to 
the  people. 

The  church  is  full  of  other  objects  of  interest.  Against 
the  north  wall  is  a  very  pretty  example  of  a  wheel  of  bells : 
this  is  all  of  wood,  corbelled  out  from  the  wall,  and  is  rung 
with  a  noisy  jingle  of  silver  bells  at  the  elevation  of  the 
Hosts.  Near  it  is  a  doorway  leading  into  the  sacristy,  I 
think,  which  is  very  ingeniously  converted  into  a  monu- 
ment. It  has  a  square  lintel  and  a  pointed  arch  above : 
bold  corbels  on  either  side  carry  a  high  tomb,  the  base  of 
which  is  just  over  the  lintel;  this  is  arcaded  at  the  side  and 
ends,  and  on  its  sloping  top  is  a  figure  of  a  knight.  The 
favourite  type  of  monument  in  this  part  of  Spain  is  generally 


296  GERONA  CATHEDRAL 

a  coped  tomb  carried  on  corbels,  which  are  usually  lions  or 
other  beasts  :  there  are  good  examples  of  this  kind  both  in 
the  church  and  cloister  j  and  in  the  latter  there  is  also  pre- 
served a  great  wooden  cross,  which  looks  as  though  it  had 
originally  decorated  a  rood-loft. 

The  windows  have  a  good  deal  of  very  late  stained  glass, 
which  consists  generally  of  single  figures  under  canopies. 
I  have  already  mentioned  the  fine  early  woodwork  in  the 
Coro.  In  the  Fifteenth  Century  this  was  altered  and  added 
to :  and  a  seat  was  then  made  for  the  Bishop  in  the  centre 
of  the  western  side  of  the  Coro,  which  has  enormous  pieces 
of  carved  openwork  on  either  side  executed  with  uncommon 
vigour  and  skill.  These  again  were  added  to  afterwards  by 
a  Renaissance  artist,  so  that  it  is  now  necessary  to  discrimi- 
nate carefully  between  the  work  of  the  various  ages. 

If,  when  the  Cathedral  has  been  thoroughly  studied,  one 
goes  out  through  the  cloister,  an  external  door  at  its  north- 
western angle  leads  out  to  the  top  of  a  steep  path  from 
which  an  extremely  picturesque  view  is  obtained.  The  old 
town  walls  girt  the  Cathedral  on  the  north  side ;  but  in  the 
Eleventh  Century,  it  was  thought  well  to  add  to  them,  and 
a  second  wall  descends,  crosses  the  valley  below,  and  rises 
against  the  opposite  hill  in  a  very  picturesque  fashion. 
This  wall  has  the  passage-way  perfect  all  round,  and  oc- 
casional circular  towers  project  from  it. 


BEAUVAIS  CATHEDRAL 

BENJAMIN  WINKLES 

THE  first  view  of  Beauvais  Cathedral,  at  a  distance  of 
three  or  four  miles  from  it,  is  most  extraordinary. 
The  stranger  is  at  a  loss  to  know  what  it  is  he  sees.  Lofty- 
enough  to  be  the  tower  of  a  church,  yet  the  form  of  it  for- 
bids the  supposition,  and  judging  from  all  previous  experi- 
ence, it  is  far  too  lofty  to  be  the  main  body  of  one.  So  un- 
usual indeed  is  its  shape  and  height  together,  that  when 
seen  at  the  distance  before  named  and  through  a  hazy  at- 
mosphere, it  has  been  mistaken  by  travellers  at  first  sight 
for  a  natural  isolated  rock,  or  an  artificial  mount,  thrown  up 
for  the  purpose  of  fortification.  What  is  it  ?  exclaims  the 
traveller,  when  this  Cathedral  first  rises  to  view :  he  is 
answered.  It  is  the  Cathedral  of  Beauvais;  yes,  merely  the 
body  of  the  Cathedral,  which  has  no  tower,  or  spire,  or 
turret ;  and  scarcely  any  pinnacle  which  rises  higher  than 
the  ridge  of  its  roof. 

The  cathedrals  of  France  are,  generally  speaking,  vastly 
higher  in  the  body  than  those  of  England,  or  indeed  of  any 
other  country,  and  the  body  of  Beauvais  Cathedral  is  higher 
than  any  other  in  France. 

It  is,  however,  but  half  a  cathedral ;  It  is  only  the  choir 
and  transept  of  one ;  the  nave  is  entirely  wanting.  What  a 
pity,  exclaim  some  who  have  just  arrived  in  Beauvais  from 
Abbeville  and  have  viewed  with  admiration  the  nave  (the 
only  existing  part  of  the  abbey  church  in  that  town) ;  what  a 


298  BEAUVAIS  CATHEDRAL 

pity  we  cannot  bring  that  nave,  with  its  magnificent  west 
front,  and  join  it  to  the  no  less  magnificent  choir  and  tran- 
sept of  Beauvais  Cathedral,  that  so,  instead  of  two  detached 
halves  of  churches,  we  might  behold  one  superb  and  match- 
less whole  ! 

These  halves,  however,  are  better  separated  than  brought 
together  and  though  the  style  of  the  architecture  of  the  nave 
of  Abbeville  would  accord  very  well  with  that  of  the  transept 
of  Beauvais,  yet  neither  their  dimensions  nor  proportions 
would  agree. 

The  choir  of  Beauvais  has  all  the  marks  of  being  an  edi- 
fice of  the  Thirteenth  Century,  an  age  so  renowned  in 
France  for  a  brilliant  constellation  of  architects,  who,  by  a 
singular  combination  of  boldness  with  symmetry,  and  light- 
ness with  profusion  of  ornament,  produced  the  most  ma- 
jestic and  sublime  temples  for  the  worship  of  the  deity  that 
were  ever  made  with  hands. 

We  have  already  hinted  at  the  extraordinary  elevation  as 
viewed  from  a  distance ;  on  a  nearer  inspection  that  ele- 
vation is  still  more  astonishing  :  and  from  whatever  point 
the  exterior  of  this  Cathedral  is  seen,  the  more  attentively  it 
is  examined,  the  more  admiration  it  inspires;  fresh  beauties 
continually  unfold  themselves  to  the  eye  of  the  delighted 
amateur,  and  the  longer  he  lingers  on  the  spot,  the  more 
reluctant  he  is  to  quit  it. 

The  whole  exterior  of  the  Cathedral  is  bold  and  majestic 
in  its  dimensions,  graceful  in  its  proportions,  rich  and  deli- 
cate in  all  its  wonderful  display  of  detail,  and  especially  as 
regards  the  north  and  south  ends  of  the  transept.  The  face 
of  the  latter  indeed  presents  what  may  be  called  a  blaze  of 
decoration  which  perfectly  dazzles  and  bewilders  the  spec- 
tator. 


BEAUVAIS  CATHEDRAL  299 

Both  fronts  of  the  transept  are  very  superb  examples  of 
what  has  been  called  in  France  the  Flamboyant  Style  of 
architecture,  from  the  flame-like  form  of  its  tracery  and 
panelling;  it  is  the  latest  style  of  Gothic  in  France,  and 
answers  in  its  date  and  application  to  what  in  England  has 
been  denominated  the  Perpendicular  Style,  because  its 
tracery  and  panelling  assume  principally  that  direction.  The 
plan  of  both  these  fronts  is  the  same,  and  the  usual  one  of  a 
gable  end  flanked  with  projecting  buttresses  of  whatever 
form,  a  portal  with  a  large  window  above,  divided  by  a 
horizontal  gallery  above  the  window,  and  the  gable  itself 
above  all.  Each  one  of  these,  beginning  with  the  portal, 
projects  in  order  before  the  other,  which  gives  the  portal  a 
depth  unknown  in  English  churches.  But  though  the 
general  plan  be  the  same  in  both  the  north  and  south  ends 
of  this  transept,  yet  there  are  differences  in  the  detail  of  each 
which  are  worthy  of  remark. 

The  north  transept  is  one  of  the  examples  of  the  Flam- 
boyant Style,  which  has  more  of  the  character  of  the 
English  Perpendicular  than  is  commonly  to  be  met  with. 
The  portal  has  its  arched  moulding  adorned  with  three  lines 
of  free  tracery,  and  its  sides  by  very  rich  brackets,  canopies, 
pinnacles  and  niches. 

The  tympanum  is  flat,  beautifully  sculptured  with  a 
genealogical  tree,  with  escutcheons  hanging  from  each 
branch,  and  with  good  rich  panelling.  The  entrance  is 
divided  into  two  doorways  by  a  stone  pier  carved  into  the 
form  of  an  upper  and  lower  niche  with  canopies  and  pin- 
nacles ;  each  door  has  a  straight  topped  arch  under  one 
larger  one  of  the  same  kind.  The  head  of  the  great  win- 
dow has  very  rich  flowing  tracery  forming  a  sort  of  rose  or 
wheel. 


300  BEAUVAIS  CATHEDRAL 

The  arch  mouldings  of  the  portal,  as  well  as  its  sides,  are 
filled  with  three  rows  of  rich  canopies  and  brackets  which 
once  had  statues,  but  these  disappeared  in  those  perilous 
times  which  had  well-nigh  swept  away  everything  which 
was  valuable  in  the  arts  as  well  as  in  religion  and  morals. 
This  portal  forms  the  principal  entrance  into  the  Cathedral, 
and  is  ascended  by  a  flight  of  fourteen  steps.  It  is  adorned 
besides  with  a  peculiarly  elegant  specimen  of  free  tracery, 
hanging  down  from  its  exterior  arch  like  an  edging  of  lace, 
or  ornamental  fringe  of  stone.  The  great  window  above 
this  portal  occupies  the  whole  space  between  the  flanking 
turrets,  and  the  head  of  it  is  filled  with  a  large  circle  full  of 
tracery  of  the  most  rich  and  beautiful  description  of  similar 
design  and  workmanship  to  that  in  the  northern  end  of  the 
transept.  The  gable  above  the  window  and  the  spandrel 
spaces  are  alike  elaborately  decorated. 

The  first  impression  on  entering  the  Cathedral,  or  rather 
the  choir  of  Beauvais,  is  truly  magical ;  the  second,  that  of 
danger  from  the  enormous  and  exaggerated  height,  which 
is  perhaps  after  all  more  wonderful  than  pleasing.  Mr. 
Whewell  in  his  Architectural  Notes  (1835)  compares 
Amiens  Cathedral  to  a  giant  in  repose,  and  this  of  Beauvais 
to  a  tall  man  on  tiptoe,  a  very  happy  illustration  of  the 
efl^ect  produced  by  them  upon  the  mind  at  first  sight, 
though  from  the  superior  height  and  noble  breadth  of 
Beauvais  Cathedral,  it  might  without  any  impropriety  be 
called  a  giant  on  tiptoe.  There  is  a  great  similarity  be- 
tween the  choirs  of  these  two  Cathedrals,  though  differences 
do  exist  in  the  detail,  as  well  as  in  the  dimensions  and  pro- 
portions, which  a  closer  examination  readily  detects.  The 
pier  arch  spaces  are  narrower,  the  clerestory  windows  much 
taller  in  this  Cathedral  than  in  that  of  Amiens.     Here,  too, 


BEAUVAIS  CATHEDRAL  30! 

we  find  the  vaulting  in  six  compartments,  so  common  in 
Germany,  but  rare  in  France ;  probably  this  plan  was 
adopted  for  greater  security  after  the  vaulting  had  twice 
fallen  in.  The  principal  charm  of  the  choir  of  Beauvais 
resides  in  the  apse.  There  is  especially  a  peculiar  dignity 
and  grace  about  the  apsidal  columns  and  arches,  a  just  idea 
of  which  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  language  nor  of  the  pen- 
cil to  convey  to  the  mind.  The  form,  the  dimensions  and 
proportions  of  this  heptagonal  termination  of  the  choir  of 
Beauvais  Cathedral  produce  a  fascinating  effect  on  the  be- 
holder. The  remaining  and  greater  portion  of  the  choir  is 
disfigured  first  by  a  double  row  of  stalls  on  each  side  of  it, 
one  a  little  elevated  above  the  other,  very  mean  and  incon- 
gruous ;  secondly,  by  eight  pieces  of  Beauvais  tapestry,  sus- 
pended in  frames,  four  on  each  side,  about  half-way  up  the 
pillars.  They  are  copies  from  Raphael's  cartoons,  and  are 
much  esteemed ;  we  do  not,  therefore,  find  fault  with  the 
things  themselves  but  with  their  situation  ;  we  would  rather 
see  them  in  the  town-hall  than  in  the  Cathedral ;  which, 
we  repeat,  they  positively  disfigure. 

The  pavement  of  the  choir  is  all  of  marble  and  the 
mosaic  work  very  beautiful ;  it  is  higher  than  the  pavement 
of  the  transept,  from  which  it  is  ascended  by  four  steps. 
The  choir  has  double  side  aisles  on  each  side ;  the  outer 
aisle  round  the  apse  being  formed  into  seven  chapels,  in- 
serted between  the  buttresses,  which  are  produced  inwards 
and  form  the  sides  of  these  chapels ;  their  eastern  ends  are 
each  three-sided  bays  with  windows  in  each  side ;  their 
western  ends  are  open  to  the  aisle  which  runs  round  the 
apse.  Beginning  with  the  northern  extremity  of  the  apse 
and  proceeding  round  it  to  the  southern,  the  chapels  are 
dedicated  in  order  to  the  following  saints  :     (i)  Magdalene  j 


302  BEAUVAIS  CATHEDRAL 

(2)  Sebastian;  (3)    Anne;    (4)  Virgin   Mary ;  (5)  Lucien  ; 
(6)  Vincent;  (7)  Denys. 

The  other  chapels  in  the  Cathedral  are  six  in  number, 
one  on  each  side  of  the  north  and  south  entrance  of  the 
transept,  and  two  on  the  south  side  of  the  choir,  inserted 
between  the  buttresses,  which  are  produced  inwards,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  apsidal  chapels.  These  chapels  are  dedi- 
cated thus  :     (i)  The  Sacred  Heart ;  (2)  The  Sacrament ; 

(3)  The  Dead;  (4)  The  Font  or  Baptistery;  (5)  St.  Au- 
gustine ;  (6)  St.  Joseph. 

The  monument  of  Cardinal  Forbin  is  in  the  north  aisle 
of  the  choir,  attached  to  the  wall ;  it  is  of  beautiful  design 
and  excellent  workmanship.  The  Cardinal  is  represented 
on  his  knees,  with  his  hands  joined  together  in  the  usual 
attitude  of  prayer. 

The  ancient  Cathedral  clock  stands  close  to  this  monu- 
ment, and  is  worthy  of  something  more  than  a  passing 
glance  ;  the  case  is  of  wood  and  is  a  good  specimen  of  the 
Gothic  of  the  middle  of  the  Sixteenth  Century. 

In  the  absence  of  all  authentic  documentary  evidence, 
the  choir  of  Beauvais  would  plainly  appear  to  be  a  work  of 
the  Thirteenth  Century,  from  its  similarity  to  those  build- 
ings which  are  ascertained  to  be  of  that  age. 

We  are  not  left  to  conjecture,  however,  respecting  the 
date  of  the  choir  of  Beauvais  Cathedral.  When  the  second 
Cathedral,  which  bore  the  date  of  991,  was  destroyed. 
Miles  de  Nanteuil,  Bishop  of  Beauvais,  began  to  build  the 
present  choir  in  the  year  1225,  that  is  five  years  after  the 
foundation  stone  of  the  present  Cathedral  of  Amiens  was 
laid,  and  it  was  his  intention  to  rebuild  the  whole  Cathedral 
of  Beauvais  on  a  scale  corresponding  with  the  wealth,  dig- 
nity, and  importance  of  the  See.     The  vaulting,  however, 


BEAUVAIS  CATHEDRAL  303 

fell  in  about  fifty  years  after  it  was  finished  and  was  recon- 
structed in  the  year  1272.  Twelve  years  afterwards  it 
again  fell  in,  and  forty  years  were  employed  in  reconstruct- 
ing and  securing  the  third  vaulting  from  a  similar  calamity. 

In  the  year  1338,  the  bishop  and  chapter  chose  Enguer- 
rand,  surnamed  the  rich,  as  their  architect,  and  the  work 
was  begun  and  carried  on  with  great  zeal  and  activity  for 
several  years,  but  it  was  again  interrupted  by  a  succession 
of  national  calamities  and  not  resumed  till  the  year  1500, 
when  the  transept  was  begun,  but  not  completed  till  the 
year  1555. 

The  stained  glass  in  the  windows,  though  it  has  suffered 
both  from  the  effects  of  time  and  Revolution,  has  been  in  a 
great  measure  preserved,  and  is  still  a  principal  feature  in 
the  internal  decoration  of  the  Cathedral  of  Beauvais.  It 
was  executed  at  the  very  best  period  of  the  art,  and  is  ex- 
ceedingly rich  and  glowing  ;  that  which  adorns  the  roses  or 
wheels  in  the  north  and  south  ends  of  the  transept  is  be- 
lieved to  be  the  work  of  John  and  Nicholas  Lepot.  That 
in  the  north  is  excessively  brilliant ;  it  represents  the  sun 
diffusing  its  rays  in  the  middle  of  a  deep  blue  sky  studded 
with  stars ;  in  the  lights  beneath  this  rose  are  placed  several 
female  figures  of  saints. 

In  the  south  window  the  artist  has  placed  some  saints  and 
prophets,  and  the  portrait  also  of  the  famous  Jean  Francis 
Fernel,  physician  to  Henri  11.  This  was  a  compliment 
paid  to  the  most  skilful  physician  of  his  time,  who  was  born 
in  the  year  1496  at  Montdidier,  about  ten  leagues  from 
Beauvais.  There  is  also  some  very  beautiful  stained  glass 
in  the  chapels  :  in  a  window  of  one  of  them  the  figures  of 
St.  Peter,  St.  Paul  and  St.  John  are  to  be  seen.  St.  Paul  is 
particularly  well  drawn  in  an  attitude  and  manner  which  re- 


304  BEAUVAIS  CATHEDRAL 

minds  the  spectator  of  the  Apostles  of  Raphael.  The 
figure  of  St.  John  is  also  very  striking.  The  glass  is  the 
work  of  Angrand  or  Enguerrand  le  Prince,  another  famous 
painter  on  glass,  who  died  in  the  year  1530.  In  the  win- 
dow of  another  chapel  above  the  altar  are  seen  a  crucifixion, 
a  St.  Christopher  and  a  St.  Hubert,  after  the  designs  of 
Albert  Diirer,  which  are  believed  to  be  by  the  same  hand. 
In  the  same  chapel  a  Virgin  contemplating  a  dead  Christ 
after  the  Descent  from  the  Cross,  is  placed  between  the 
portraits  of  the  donor  of  the  glass  and  his  wife.  All  this 
glass  of  the  Sixteenth  Century  is  very  admirable  for  its 
designs,  its  colouring  and  its  general  effect. 


LICHFIELD  CATHEDRAL 

W.  J.  LOFTIE 

THERE  is  a  great  charm  about  the  distant  view  of  the 
three  spires  of  Lichfield,  which  is  only  shared  by  the 
similar  charm  of  the  three  spires  of  the  neighbouring 
Coventry.  Travellers  by  the  London  and  North  Western 
Railway  catch  a  momentary  glimpse  as  they  pass.  On  one 
side  a  wide  green  plain  stretches  out  towards  Needwood 
Forest ;  on  the  other  the  great  wall  of  dark  smoke,  ruddy  at 
night  with  the  glow  of  a  thousand  furnaces,  betokens  the 
neighbourhood  of  collieries  and  iron  foundries.  The  name 
of  the  little  city  has  generally  been  taken  to  mean  "  the  field 
of  the  dead,"  but  lych^  a  marsh,  has  been  suggested.  There 
is,  however,  no  such  word  in  Old  English.  The  early  form 
of  the  name  is  Licetfeld. 

The  city  does  not  figure  very  largely  in  history  before 
the  Great  Rebellion.  The  Cathedral  close  was  besieged  in 
1643.  '^^^  King's  party  had  fortified  Bishop  Langton's 
wall,  and  were  attacked  by  Lord  Brooke,  "  who  expressed 
the  impious  wish  to  behold  the  day  when  no  Cathedral 
should  be  left  standing,  and  demanded  a  sign  from 
heaven."  He  was  shot  in  the  eye  by  "  dumb  Dyott," 
from  the  middle' tower  on  March  2d — St.  Chad's  Day — 
while  giving  orders  in  a  place  in  Dam  Street,  now  marked 
by  an  inscription  : 


306  LICHFIELD  CATHEDRAL 

•*  'Twas  levelled  by  fanatic  Brooke — 
The  fair  Cathedral  stormed  and  took  ; 
But  thanks  to  Heaven  and  good  St.  Chad, 
A  guerdon  meet  the  spoiler  had." 

The  garrison  surrendered  to  Sir  John  Gall.  In  the  fol- 
lowing month  it  was  retaken  by  Prince  Rupert  and  re- 
mained in  the  hands  of  the  King's  party  till  July,  1646.  Up- 
wards of  2,000  shot  and  1,500  grenades  had  been  directed 
against  the  church  ;  the  lead  of  the  roof  was  stripped  off  for 
bullets,  and  the  central  spire  was  destroyed.  "  It  was  found 
necessary,  in  the  episcopate  of  Bishop  Hackett,  to  restore  the 
fabric  at  an  enormous  expense,  and  it  was  reconsecrated, 
December  24,  1669.  The  morning  after  his  arrival,  he  set 
his  eight  carriage  horses  to  clear  away  the  rubbish.  After 
eight  years  the  bells  were  hung  in  the  steeple  ;  then,  old  and 
infirm  he  went  into  an  adjoining  chamber  to  hear  them  chime 
their  first  peal :  It  is  my  knell,  he  said,  and  in  a  few  hours 
he  had  passed  to  his  rest."  So  says  Mr.  Walcott,  but 
Hackett's  biographer.  Plume,  says  he  was  ill  when  the  six 
bells  were  hung,  and  that  when  he  had  heard  them  chime, 
he  said  :  "They  will  be  my  passing  bell,"  and  never  after- 
wards left  his  bed. 

The  church  as  we  now  see  it  is  namely  of  a  later  style  of 
Gothic,  but  in  parts  shows  Early  English  work.  The  front 
has  been  much  improved  of  late  years,  having  long  been 
decorated  with  mouldings  and  other  ornaments  in  stucco. 
As  restored,  the  present  front  with  its  beautiful  hexagonal 
spires,  its  three  doorways,  and  its  screen  with  no  niches 
filled  with  figures  is  extremely  satisfactory,  restoration  hav- 
ing for  once  done  good  and  not  harm.  The  destructive 
Wyatt  was  let   loose  on  the  building  early  in  the  century, 


LICHFIELD  CATHEDRAL 


LICHFIELD  CATHEDRAL  307 

and  pulled  down  the  screen  of  Bishop  Langton  between  the 
Lady  Chapel  and  the  choir,  but  is  not  responsible  for  the 
stucco  work.  Externally  the  church  consists  of  a  nave  of 
eight  bays  with  aisles  of  the  best  period,  a  choir,  also  of 
eight  bays,  transepts  of  two  bays  each,  with  eastern  aisles, 
and  a  Lady  Chapel,  apsidal  at  the  end. 

There  are,  unfortunately,  no  authentic  documents  as  to 
the  builders  of  the  church.  But  it  stood  much  as  it  does 
now,  before  the  time  of  Bishop  Heyworth,  died  1447. 
Willis  dated  choir  and  nave  before  1250,  and  the  west  front 
1270.  There  are  three  doorways  :  the  central  door  is 
divided  by  a  shaft,  with  a  tall  niched  figure  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin.  On  either  side  are  statues  of  the  Evangelists. 
The  outer  and  inner  arches  are  foliated  and  the  mouldings 
are  filled  with  exquisitely-wrought  foliage.  The  ironwork 
on  the  doors  is  ancient  and  good.  The  doors  to  the 
transept  are  also  worth  seeing.  Adjoining  that  on  the 
south  side  is  an  ancient  tomb  said  to  be  that  of  the  architect 
of  one  of  the  spires.  The  central  tower  rises  one  story 
above  the  roof,  and  has  on  each  face  canopied  windows, 
each  of  two  lights,  under  a  simple  battlement,  with  pinnacled 
turrets  at  the  angles.  The  spire  which  rises  above  is 
hexagonal,  like  those  of  the  west  front,  but  more  highly 
decorated.  The  Chapter-house  is  polygonal  and  has  an 
upper  story  in  which  is  the  Library.  It  is  later  than  the 
main  body  of  the  church,  being  Perpendicular  in  style. 
There  is  a  central  pillar  both  in  the  Chapter-house  and  in 
the  building  above.  The  clerestory  of  the  choir  is  also 
Perpendicular,  but  the  windows  of  the  aisles  are  Decorated. 
The  Lady  Chapel,  with  its  lofty  three-light  windows,  rich 
tracery  and  graceful  flowering  canopies,  and  its  semi- 
hexagonal    apse,   gives    a    beautiful    termination    to   the 


308  LICHFIELD  CATHEDRAL 

Cathedral.  It  was  commenced,  according  to  Mr.  St.  John 
Hope,  by  Walter  Langton,  who  became  bishop  in  1296, 
and  was  finished  by  his  successor,  Northburgh,  to  whom 
also  Mr.  Hope  assigns  the  western  towers.  "  Only  the 
southwest  or  Jesus  steeple  remains,  however,  in  its  original 
state,  the  northwest  tower  above  the  sills  of  the  belfry 
windows  having  been  rebuilt  in  Perpendicular  times,  in 
imitation  of  the  earlier  work."  Both  the  tower  and  the 
spire  are  perceptibly  shorter  than  those  on  the  south  side. 
On  the  plan  the  very  considerable  difference  in  the  direction 
of  the  nave  and  that  of  the  choir  and  chapel  is  easily  seen. 

The  interior  offers  us  a  rare  example  of  a  church  of  the 
kind  without  Norman  features.  The  Early  English  col- 
umns are  capped  with  exquisite  carving.  The  spandrels 
above  are  filled  with  quatrefoils.  The  triforium  is  of  two 
arches,  each  similarly  subdivided,  with  a  quatrefoil  in  the 
head.  The  clerestory  is  of  three  trefoiled  lights,  arranged 
in  a  triangular  curved  framework.  The  groining  of  the  roof 
is  highly  ornamented  with  carved  bosses,  but  is  otherwise  of 
the  simple  character  of  the  Thirteenth  Century.  That  of 
the  choir  is  more  elaborate.  Here  the  triforium  hardly  ex- 
ists, and  the  clerestory  is  lofty.  A  modern  reredos  occupies 
the  place  of  the  old  one,  destroyed  by  Wyatt.  New  stalls, 
a  metal  screen,  and  a  metal  pulpit  have  been  provided  from 
designs  by  Scott.  The  transepts  are  unequal  to  the  rest  of 
the  church.  The  arcaded  vestibule  to  the  Chapter-house, 
and  that  room,  with  its  rich  central  shaft  and  beautiful  groin- 
ing, are  much  to  be  admired.  The  Lady  Chapel  is  the  chief 
gem  of  the  Cathedral.  A  range  of  stalls  extends  beneath  the 
windows,  nine  in  number,  while  between  each  pair  are 
niches  and  canopies  and  brackets,  with  every  characteristic 
of  richness  and  delicacy. 


LICHFIELD  CATHEDRAL  3O9 

Over  the  door  of  the  Consistory  Court,  in  the  south  choir 
aisle,  is  a  minstrels'  gallery,  and  adjoining  it  an  ancient 
vestry.  T^\\q  feretrum^  or  shrine  of  St.  Chad,  stood  east  of 
the  screen,  and  cost  Langton  ;!^2,ooo.  The  Library  con- 
tains some  curious  books,  including  a  transcript  of  the  Eighth 
Century,  known  as  the  "  Gospels  of  St.  Chad."  A  Cax- 
ton.  The  Life  of  King  Arthur^  is  among  the  printed  books. 

The  windows  are  not  nearly  so  bad  as  in  many  of  our 
cathedrals.  The  glass  in  the  Lady  Chapel  is  old  Flemish, 
of  a  good  period,  and  was  brought  from  Herckenrade,  near 
Liege,  by  Sir  Brooke  Boothby,  in  1802,  when  the  abbey  of 
that  place  was  destroyed  by  the  French.  It  came  over  in 
340  pieces,  which  were  ingeniously  arranged  by  the  Rev.  W. 
G.  Rowland,  a  prebendary.  They  contain  scriptural  subjects 
and  are  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.  The  organ  was  entirely 
rebuilt  by  Messrs.  Hill  &  Son  in  1884,  and  contains  3,500 
pipes. 

The  chief  monuments — many  perished  in  the  siege,  and 
many  more  under  Wyatt — comprise  those  of  Bishop  Lang- 
ton,  died  1321;  Bishop  Pateshull,  died  1241 ;  and  Bishop 
Hackett,  died  167 1.  There  are  busts  of  Johnson  and  Gar- 
rick.  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu  is  commemorated  in  the 
north  aisle  of  the  nave ;  and  on  the  monument  of  the  par- 
ents of  Miss  Seward,  by  Bacon,  are  some  lines  by  Sir 
Walter  Scott.  In  the  south  side  of  the  choir  are  the  Sleep- 
ing Children^  the  daughters  of  the  Rev.  W.  Robinson,  by 
Chantrey. 

Cloisters  were  always  an  after-thought  in  churches  of 
secular  canons,  and  there  are  none  at  Lichfield. 


POITIERS  CATHEDRAL 

JEAN  JACQUES  BOURASSE 

THE  church  of  Poitiers  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated  in 
all  France  for  its  glorious  antiquity,  and  the  great- 
ness and  sanctity  of  several  of  the  dignitaries  who  have 
governed  it.  The  first  of  these  was  St.  Hilary;  a  little 
later  came  St.  Fortunatus  to  fill  the  episcopal  chair. 

The  first  basilica  was  subjected  to  a  mob  of  disasters. 
The  Saracens  and  Normans  ruined  it  on  several  occasions ; 
but  it  was  always  restored  by  the  zeal  of  the  bishops  and  the 
faithful.  In  1018,  a  terrible  fire,  that  reduced  the  town  to 
ashes,  did  not  spare  the  Cathedral.  William  IV.,  Count  of 
Poitiers,  resolved  to  repair  the  damage ;  and  built  a  new 
episcopal  church,  consecrated  by  Isambert  IV.  Hardly  was 
it  completed,  when  it  shared  the  same  fate  as  its  predecessor. 
In  the  middle  of  the  Twelfth  Century,  Henry  II.,  King  of 
England,  at  the  request  of  his  wife  Eleanor  of  Aqultaine,  re- 
built the  Cathedral  on  a  grander  plan,  and  with  magnificence 
proportionate  to  his  high  estate.  The  work  was  energetically 
commenced;  but,  before  long,  zeal  cooled;  and  the  monu- 
ment, begun  about  11 52,  after  suffering  numerous  interrup- 
tions, was  not  consecrated  till  1379,  by  Bishop  Bertrand  de 
Meaumont.  In  the  meantime  the  principles  of  religious 
architecture  had  been  changed  :  we  find  unequivocal  proofs 
of  this  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  present  edifice.  The  prin- 
cipal porch,  in  its  most  important  parts,  dates  only  from  the 


POITIERS  CATHEDRAL  3II 

Fourteenth  Century.  Some  of  the  details  of  the  towers  are 
even  more  recent,  and  must  be  attributed  to  the  Fifteenth 
Century. 

St.  Pierre  de  Poitiers  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  build- 
ings of  the  transitional  period  :  it  bears  all  the  characteris- 
tics of  that  remarkable  epoch  well  expressed.  It  is  no 
longer  the  Byzantine  Style  in  its  purity,  nor  the  Gothic  in 
its  soaring  and  majesty.  It  is  intermediary ;  and  bears  the 
stamp  of  both  systems  at  their  immediate  point  of  contact. 
The  general  aspect  is  imposing  and  religious.  This  majes- 
tic edifice  has  nothing  of  that  trumpery  splendour  borrowed 
from  a  superfluity  of  ornaments ;  it  has  all  the  noble  simplic- 
ity of  great  architecture. 

The  dimensions  of  the  Cathedral  are  as  follows  :  internal 
length,  ninety-five  metres  ;  width  of  nave,  thirty  metres  j 
width  of  transept,  fifty-six  metres ;  height  of  the  principal 
vault,  thirty  metres ;  height  of  the  side  vaultings,  twenty- 
four  metres  ;  height  of  the  tower  on  the  right  of  the  princi- 
pal porch,  thirty-four  metres;  of  the  tower  on  the  left, 
thirty-two  metres. 

When  we  enter  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Pierre,  we  are  struck 
with  the  small  number,  the  height,  and  the  placement  of  the 
pillars ;  there  are  ten  on  each  side.  They  are  composed  of 
a  stem  surrounded  by  columns  grouped  into  a  sheaf  of 
admirable  elegance.  The  capitals  are  tastefully  carved; 
the  colonnettes  stand  and  soar  with  perfect  grace.  The 
arcades  of  pointed  arches  have  mouldings,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  those  that  are  decorated  with  applications 
of  bas-reliefs  on  the  walls  of  the  aisles,  which  are  semi- 
circular. The  central  nave  is  majestic,  though  perhaps  it  is 
somewhat  lacking  in  that  mysterious  grandeur  of  Gothic 
cathedrals.     All   the   windows   were   formerly    filled  with 


312  POITIERS  CATHEDRAL 

painted  glass:  in  their  sacrilegious  devastations  of  the 
Catholic  churches,  the  Protestants  broke  most  of  them. 

The  vaultings  of  the  Cathedral  are  established  on  fine 
round  ribs  of  quite  characteristic  form.  They  are  slightly 
raised  into  cupolas  and  divided  into  numerous  compartments. 

Some  of  the  windows  are  round-headed,  and  others  have 
a  pointed  arch, — a  disposition  which  alone  would  suffice  for 
the  determination  of  the  exact  age  of  the  monument.  They 
are  there,  so  to  speak,  as  the  confines  of  two  styles  that 
touch  and  tend  to  mingle.  At  the  lower  part  of  the  nave, 
near  the  great  doorway,  the  modified  windows  are  double 
lancets,  or  are  extended  so  as  to  admit  quatrefoil  and  rose 
tracery  in  their  tympanums.  The  Thirteenth  Century  has 
left  some  vestiges  of  its  noble  architecture  here. 

The  rose  window  over  the  principal  door  is  a  magnificent 
creation  of  the  Fourteenth  Century.  The  divisions  that 
radiate  from  the  centre  end  at  the  circumference  in  delicate 
blind  arcades ;  the  contours  of  the  immense  flower  are 
ornamented  with  graceful  carvings  of  trefoil  and  quatrefoil 
forms ;  the  angles  also  are  decorated  with  trefoils  and 
rosettes. 

The  apse  terminates  in  a  great  flat  wall  pierced  with  three 
Romano-Byzantine  windows.  The  chancel,  thus  disposed, 
limits  the  view  disagreeably.  It  is  a  far  cry  from  this 
brusque  break  of  line  to  the  rich  perspective  of  the  ambula- 
tory passages  extending  around  a  circular  or  octagonal  apse. 
This  mode  of  construction  has  always  been  rarely  used 
in  religious  edifices ;  and  therefore  should  be  mentioned  on 
account  of  its  singularity. 

The  church  of  St.  Pierre  was  on  several  occasions  the 
victim  of  the  fury  of  war  and  impiety.  These  two  scourges, 
more  terrible  even  than  those  of  Nature,devastated  and  carried 


POITIERS  CATHEDRAL  313 

away  all  that  presented  itself  to  their  blows  and  their  avidity 
in  the  sacred  precincts.  In  1386,  the  troops  of  the  Earl  of 
Derby,  after  pillaging  the  city,  did  not  spare  the  Cathedral. 
In  1562,  the  Protestants  broke  in  and  indulged  in  all  kinds 
of  sacrilegious  excesses.  They  seized  the  treasure,  dispersed 
the  relics  and  destroyed  the  splendid  monument  erected  to 
the  memory  of  Simon  de  Cramaud,  bishop  of  Poitiers.  At 
a  date  closer  to  our  own  day,  an  epoch  every  instant  of 
which  was  numbered  in  ruins,  the  church  of  St.  Pierre 
became  private  property  and  was  on  the  point  of  being 
demolished  from  top  to  bottom.  Calculations  of  personal 
interest  alone  prevented  the  execution  of  this  impious 
project. 

Among  the  unintelligent  restorations  that  have  blemished 
the  old  building,  the  most  ridiculous  idea  was  to  build  a 
gallery  around  the  church.  There  is  a  long  series  of  heavy 
balusters  in  the  Eighteenth  Century  style.  Its  bad  taste 
has  not  even  the  excuse  of  delicate  workmanship. 

The  exterior  of  the  Cathedral,  considered  in  its  mass, 
does  not  inspire  that  noble  gravity  of  the  majority  of  our 
other  monuments.  It  lacks  that  elevation  and  those  ac- 
cessories that  we  are  accustomed  to  regard  as  necessary 
accompaniments  to  our  great  basilicas.  The  towers  do  not 
dominate  the  town  with  that  tranquil  majesty  which  al- 
ways produces  an  imposing  and  religious  effect;  they 
are  not  crowned  with  aerial  spires  that  take  their  flight  into 
the  sky  to  carry  the  sign  of  the  cross  up  to  the  clouds. 
Everything  here  seems  crushed ;  the  tops  of  the  principal 
facade  do  not  rise  in  a  sharp  triangle,  nor  form  those  pyram- 
idal frontons  that  endow  the  whole  with  any  considerable 
ascension. 

The  great  porch  deserves  particular  notice.     It  is  com- 


314  POITIERS  CATHEDRAL 

posed  of  three  doorways  surmounted  by  two  windows  and 
a  great  central  rose  window.  To  right  and  left,  it  is 
flanked  by  two  towers  of  unequal  height.  The  doorways, 
surmounted  by  slightly  developed  frontons,  are  sumptuously 
decorated.  The  now  empty  niches  were  filled  formerly 
with  great  statues ;  but  figures  of  angels  and  saints  are  still 
sheltered  by  the  dais  that  covers  the  stretch  of  the  arches. 
Where  were  originally  placed  statues  of  princes  and  bishops, 
there  are  now  only  elegant  baldachins  separated  and  sup- 
ported by  little  columns.  The  barbarians  of  the  close  of 
the  Eighteenth  Century  raised  their  hammers  against  that 
magnificent  decoration  and  reduced  it  to  powder.  The 
bas-relief  carvings  of  the  tympanums  over  the  three  doors 
are  fairly  well  preserved  :  those  of  the  central  one,  in  three 
rows  one  above  another,  are  the  Resurrection  of  the  Dead, 
the  Separation  of  the  Just  from  the  Unjust,  and  lastly, 
Jesus  Christ,  surrounded  by  angels,  pronouncing  the  dread 
judgment  that  decides  for  every  man  his  eternal  destiny. 
The  two  others  are  covered  with  sculptures  relating  to  the 
Virgin  and  to  St.  Peter,  the  patron  saint  of  Poitiers. 

The  decoration  of  the  towers  is  neither  very  rich  nor 
varied.  The  base  belongs  to  the  same  construction  as  the 
porch,  and  the  upper  part  bears  all  the  characteristic  or- 
namentation of  Fifteenth  Century  architecture.  The  broad 
surfaces  of  the  body  are  broken  up  by  light  arcades  sup- 
ported by  slender  colonnettes.  The  bows  of  the  octagonal 
part  are  surmounted  by  little  frontons  decorated  with  open- 
work foliage. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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